Alfred G. J. "Al" Boissevain

Al Boissevain was born February 7, 1923 in Brooklyn New York to Robert W. and Anne (Deterling) Boissevain. He was raised on the Adirondack Poultry Farm, now the Meadowmount School of Music in upstate New York. He attended Middlebury College, graduating in 1945, where he met his wife Hedvig "Hedy" Hogg. He completed an additional degree at MIT in 1946. Turning a life-long passion for flight into a profession, he was employed as an aeronautical engineer with Chance-Vought in Connecticut before accepting a position with the National Space Administration, (NSA, later NASA) at the Ames Research Center in Mt. View, California. While at NASA he worked on many projects including design work on the early supersonic test planes and the Mercury capsules for the early space missions as well as early development of equipment and procedures used in the initial Mars landing. At the end of his career with NASA he was back to airplanes, working on designs for Short Take-Off and Landing aircraft. Settling in Portola Valley, California, Al was active in the community, serving on the local school board for several years. He was a member of Ladera Community Church and active in the construction of the present church building. On retiring from NASA in 1978, Al and Hedy established Vinehill, a vineyard specializing in Chardonnay and Viognier, in Georgetown, California. Al became a well-respected and award-winning winemaker, marketing his grapes to wineries within the El Dorado appellation as well as to home winemakers. Al retired a second time, thirty years later, to Bloomington, Indiana where he became a man of leisure. Al is survived by his children Claire (Philip Crooke) of Bloomington, Indiana; Paul (Margaret) of Hancock, Michigan; and Charles (Nancy) of Oakland, California; 4 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren Family and friends of Al Boissevain are invited to a Memorial Open House Celebration of Al's life on Saturday, February 13, 20016 from 2:00pm to 4:00pm in the Terrace Room of Meadowood Retirement Community in Bloomington. Memorial contributions may be made to the Sycamore Land Trust, PO Box 7801, Bloomington, IN 47407 (http://sycamorelandtrust.org/make-a-donation). You are invited to share a memory or leave an online condolence to Al's family at www.allenfuneralhome.org

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Alfred G. J. "Al" Boissevain

February 7, 1923 - January 5, 2016