Alfred Martenson passed away on July 27, 2017 after a heroic 9 month battle with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, a disease that occurs most often in children under the age of 15. There was a 0.0006% chance of a person of his age getting this particular type of cancer. But as Al would say… “I am special.”

Al was born in Jamaica, New York in 1933. He went through the New York City educational system and was accepted into the Cooper Union School of Engineering, a very prestigious university in New York City where Abraham Lincoln gave one of his most important speeches. Al was chosen and honored into this university based strictly on his intelligence. His first job was working at the Westinghouse/Bettis Company where he did extensive work on the reactor system for the USS Enterprise (the first nuclear powered aircraft carrier). While working there, he also went to school in the evenings at the University of Pittsburgh where he got a PhD in 1962 in Mechanical Engineering.

Al would say that his proudest accomplishment was his marriage to Nellie Ilyankoff on Thanksgiving Day in 1960. Nellie and Al moved to Schenectady, New York in 1962 where they had 2 children, Linda and Gregg. Al worked for the General Electric Research Lab on a variety of projects that impact the world today. He was an inventor at heart and has over 200 patents. Some of his achievements have been recognized in the Smithsonian Institution. Al told us not to brag about him, but we must. One of his mechanical inventions was instrumental in quieting the noise from jet engines. He also developed a way of predicting sound patterns from submarine sonar devices. Al invented part of the mechanical arm on the “Alvin”, the robot used to investigate the Titanic. Al was also very involved in centrifuge enrichment while at General Electric. He transferred to Exxon Nuclear where he worked on the design of nuclear fuel and in 1990 he became Vice President of Engineering at Sandvik Special Metals in Finley, Washington until his retirement in 1995.

Al Martenson leaves behind his soulmate of 57 years, Nellie Martenson; son Gregg Martenson and wife Sara Martenson; daughter Linda Carr and husband Scott Roberts; and 4 grandchildren: Angela Martenson, Maggie Martenson, Calvin Carr, and Chloe Carr. Above all else, Al had a heart of solid gold and his family always came first. We have lost our compass, our True North and the world will never be the same.

A service will be held on Saturday, August 12^th at 12:00 at the Richland Lutheran Church: 901 Van Giesen St. Richland, Wa. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.