Alfred Joseph Spaulding

West Point, 1955

Be Thou At Peace

Posted by Steven Spaulding on April 13, 2024:

Alfred's NYT Obituary Alfred Joseph Spaulding, 91, died at his home in Jensen Beach, FL on September 5, 2021. He was born in a Hell's Kitchen tenement in 1930 to a carpet layer and biscuit packer. Raised on the streets of Sunnyside, he spent his days playing stickball, following his Yankees and going to the "pictures." Alfred had little idea that his own life would play out so cinematically. In 1948, he enlisted in the Air Force out of high school. Trained as a meteorologist, he spent his first tour of duty in Berlin just after the airlift. Rising to sergeant, he was one of a few chosen to attend West Point in 1951. He graduated among the top of his class in 1955 and began his 21-year Army career as an air defense and military intelligence officer. Following a year of Russian language training, he was again posted to Germany in 1961, just as the Berlin Wall was erected. In 1966, he served a year in Vietnam where he was awarded the Bronze Star. His final tour abroad took him to Saudi Arabia in 1974, where he served as the Army's military attachAA(c). Upon retirement in 1976, Alfred began a second career, again in service of his country. He spent the next 30 years as an air defense engineer with McDonnell Douglas, TRW and Boeing. Of note, he worked on the Star Wars program and International Space Station. Ever the student, he earned an MS in electrical engineering at Georgia Tech and an MBA at George Washington University. More than anything, Alfred loved his family. He is survived by Dorothy, his wife of 66 years, as well as his three sons, three daughters-in-law and three grandchildren. He will be buried at Arlington Cemetery.

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