Albert Arthur Whalen

Albert Arthur Whalen, age 90, of Westminster, died on Saturday, June 8, 2024, at Dove House in Westminster. Born July 15, 1933, in Philadelphia, PA, he was the son of the late Dorothy May nee Austin and Albert William Whalen. He was the beloved husband of Doris Hester nee Kretchmer, his wife of almost 70 years.

Albert lived in the Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey areas (Wildwood and Woodbury Heights) until the family moved to Michigan in 1948. He was known as “Albie” in Morenci High School where he graduated in 1950, lettering in football, basketball and track. He was an All-County End on Morenci’s 1949 State Football Championship team. Albert was a veteran of the Korean conflict, serving in the US Navy from 1950 to 1954 as an Aviation Electronic Technician in the Air Transportation Squadron One (VR-1) at the Patuxent River Naval Air Station in Maryland. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University in 1966 with a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.

Albert was employed by Westinghouse in Linthicum, MD from 1954 to 1959 and by Weinschel Engineering in Kensington, MD from 1959 to 1962. In 1962, he joined the National Aeronautics Space Administration at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD.

He received the NASA Exceptional Service Medal in 1974 and Special Achievement Awards in 1977 and 1984. Albert worked on communication satellite earth stations and the Landsat, Nimbus, and Applications Technology Satellites (ATS) 1, 3, 5, 6 programs. He was the Project Manager for AIDSAT, a joint project of the Agency for International Development of the State Department and NASA. He led a team of 33 engineers, with 12 transportable earth stations, demonstrating the use of Communication and Earth Resource Satellites in 25 countries including Asia, Africa, South America and the Caribbean in 1976.

Albert was the Integration Test Manager, responsible for developing the plans and procedures required to establish the readiness of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System (TDRSS) Network. He retired from NASA in 1984.

He enjoyed many hobbies, in particular, gardening, building miniature furniture, birdwatching and he loved his dogs, especially his Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. He and his wife were avid country-western dancers. They enjoyed traveling, visiting England, South America and cruises in the Caribbean as well as much of the United States. Albert was of the Lutheran faith, was a member of the American Legion Post 31.

Surviving are his wife Doris; daughters, Patricia McCurry of North Myrtle Beach, SC and Cynthia Van Ells and husband Michael of Charlottesville, VA.; grandchildren, Kimberly, Michael, Leslie and Shannon; 7 great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his parents; brother, Robert Whalen; son-in-law Jeffery McCurry; and granddaughter, Brianna.

A graveside service will be held on Friday, June 14, 2024, 11 am at Evergreen Memorial Gardens, 2800 Old Westminster Pike, Finksburg, MD 21048.