Walter - Age 87 - Los Alamos Reichelt

Walter Reichelt, 87, passed away on Friday June 21, 2013 peacefully with his family members by his side. Walter was born on July 27, 1925 in Long Island, New York. In 1943 he served in the U.S. Army as a tank commander in France and Czechoslovakia. Following the war, he earned his B.S. at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and his doctorate in physics at Johns Hopkins University. He was married to Virginia Marshall in 1948. As a scientist at Los Alamos for more than 33 years, Walter worked on the Rover rocket program, the Antares laser fusion project, and the Star Wars missile defense program. In his spare time Walter loved fly fishing, skiing, and arguing politics and religion. He sparked a passion for the pursuit of knowledge in everyone he met. Even the people Walter spoke to only briefly will remember him in his firm handshake, his intellectual curiosity, and his always-kind voice. He will be greatly missed by his wife Virginia; his three sons Richard, Steve, and Jim; his three daughters-in-law Lauren, Chris, and Cindy; his grandchildren Dianna, Danny, Chloe, Ben and Dylan; and his great grandchild Owen. A private memorial Celebration of Life will be held on Saturday, July 27, 2013. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Alzheimer’s Association, New Mexico Chapter, 9500 Montgomery Blvd., NE Suite 121, Albuquerque, NM 87111 or the Alzheimer’s Foundation of America at: http://alzfdn.org/ContributetoAFA/makeadonation.html. The family of Walter Reichelt has entrusted their loved one to DeVargas Funeral Home & Crematory of the Española Valley.

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