| ALVIN
REESER HUNTSVILLE Colonel Alvin Lee Reeser, USAF, retired, passed away Saturday, May 8, 2004, in Huntsville, Alabama. He was born in Lakeland, Florida to Ernie and Susie Reeser. Al was preceded in death by his parents; his brother, Don; and his grandson, Rex. He was raised in Vero Beach, Florida and attended Auburn University where he played foot ball. He left the University to join the U.S. Air Force Cadet Program in 1948. Later he gradu ated from the University of Arizona as an honors graduate in Mechanical Engineering and went on to earn a Masters degree in Systems Management from the University of Southern California. 
Al was a decorated veter an of both the Korean and Viet nam Wars, where he flew over 200 combat missions as a pilot. He retired from the Air Force in 1976 while serving as the Vice Commander at the Space and Missile Test Center at Vandenberg AFB, California. From 1976 to 1985, Al worked for Rockwell International as the General Manager of the Kennedy Space Center Launch Operations. His team successfully processed, launched and recovered the first ten space shuttle flights. He received the Distin guished Public Service Award Medal, the highest NASA award given for non-govern mental service. Al moved to Huntsville, Alabama in 1987 to be the Executive Vice President and General Manager of United Space Booster, Inc., where he received his second NASA Distinguished Public Service Award Medal. In 1991, he became the President and CEO of Space Hab, Inc., in Washington, D.C., a firm that develops modules for space-based research and cargo transportation on the U.S. Space shuttle fleet. The Reesers returned to Huntsville in 1994 when Al retired. Al will be greatly missed by his family and friends. He is survived by his loving wife of 54 years, Helen; his three children, Becky Kuntz and husband, Greg of Scottsdale, Arizona, Michael Reeser and wife, Carroll of Sweetwater, Texas, and Don Reeser and wife, Kimberly of Maputo, Mozambique, Africa. He leaves seven grandchildren, Kristina Kuntz, Michael Kuntz, Joe Reeser, Lauren Reeser, Katie Reeser, Matthew Rees er and Susannah Reeser; and two sisters, Ruby Zeuch and Joyce Northern, both of Vero Beach, Florida. In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the American Heart Association. Laughlin Service Funeral Home will announce a memorial service at a later date. |
