Alexander S. Zachor 1938 - 2025

Al was born in the Bronx, NY. He had fond memories of his father, taking him to play and ride horses in a park nearby (he was knocked unconscious when his horse ran under a low-hanging tree limb). His mother made "the sauce" on Saturdays, and Sunday’s pasta was served with that very same sauce. Al’s Italian grandparents Prizzi and sisters Tina and Patti would join the others at the Sunday dinner table where Al’s mother would sometimes talk to her parents in Italian.

Al’s love of science and technology led him to study at Brooklyn Technical High School and then MIT (class of '59, Aeronautical Engineering). He worked at MIT's Naval Supersonic Lab during the early years of the space race with the Soviet Union -- exciting times. Wind in the lab’s experimental tunnel blew at twice the speed of sound.

He built his own stereo, worked on his own car (a ’55 Ford Sunliner convertible in ‘65), bought 200 acres and an old farmhouse in New Hampshire and, with Jim Moran and another friend, reconnected the roof to the leaning back wall, sawed and split his own firewood, and built things -- like the aviary where he bred champion budgies. He printed his own photos with an ancient enlarger in the babies’ nursery/darkroom. His happiest nights out were at Storyville in Boston where many jazz greats played, and his favourite jazz singer was Anita O’Day (and one night she sat at his table).

Eight years after graduation Al moved to Florida for two years with his wife, Joan, and three young children to study astronomy. Al delighted in taking the kids to swim and fly kites at the Atlantic coast or fish in the Gulf of Mexico. But, alas, the best research was going on up north.

Back in Massachusetts, Al’s study of infrared transmission through the atmosphere became his life’s work and paved the way to forming his own company, Atmospheric Radiation Consultants.

Al loved walking in the woods and camping with his kids, skiing, fishing, and sailing. He rowed on a lightweight crew with his best friend, Jim Moran, at MIT. Later, he raced Snipes and then Lasers at Quannapowitt Yacht Club in Wakefield.

Al and his second wife, Carol, bought a summer house on Crescent Lake in New Hampshire. They were warm and generous hosts at “the cottage” and enjoyed taking friends and family out on the lake, accompanied by their bichons frisés.

In retirement, he wed his third wife, Leslie, and moved with her to Cape Elizabeth, Maine. Together, they shared a love of music and their Jack Russel Terrier. Sadly, Leslie died in 2018.

He became a grandfather to his only grandchild, Luke, in 2004. As Al grew older he drew closer to his children, Nancy, Andy, and Justin, and they to him. He is missed by us all.

Al is survived by his children Nancy Zachor, Andrea Zachor, and Justin Alexander; his grandson Luke Westgate; his sister Patricia Beyer; his nieces, Kim, Karen, Claudia and nephew, Jason; and his ex-wives Joan Zachor and Carol Zachor. He was predeceased by his wife Leslie Taft and by his sister Christine Cataldo.

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