Alan J. Roberts, 94

February 07, 2021

Al Roberts passed away on February 7th, 2021 at the age of 94. Al was born in Brooklyn, NY and he attended Brooklyn Technical High School where he graduated in 1944.

He was in the Navy in World War II on a hospital ship in the South Pacific where he worked as a radio technician.

After the War he went to MIT in Cambridge, MA. He majored in Electrical Engineering and completed both a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science degree graduating in 1957. He then worked at MIT’s Lincoln Lab in Lexington, MA. This began his journey in computers, software, and defense contracting. This included working on the Whirlwind computer which was the predecessor to almost all the business computers in the 60s as well as a US Air Defense System. He spent over 35 years at the MITRE Corporation ascending to the rank of VP/General Manager in their Washington DC office in the early 80s where he presided over 3500 employees. He finished his career at the Defense Systems Management College at Fort Belvoir in Virginia where he taught software engineering. Al was on the board of the Software Engineering Institute for several years at the end of his career.

Al married his first wife Mitzi Gaunt on June 26th, 1958. They had a daughter, Alexandra and a son, Andrew. Alexandra died in 1969. Mitzi died in 1998. Al then married Sara Murray on July 18th, 1999. Sara died in 2019.

Al was a brilliant person who had the utmost respect for women. He treated his wives with absolute respect and consideration. He was also a loving and supportive father. Al enjoyed watching sports, baking bread, swimming, and was a voracious reader. He also loved to ski and did that until he was 85.

Al is survived by his son Andrew of CA, and 3 stepchildren: Barbara married to Robert Blackwell of Lititz, Michael Gauvey married to Linda, and Kira Morgan.

Services will be private.