Robert Anthony Aiello, 93, of Fairview Park, died October 31, 2025 at Fairview Hospital near Cleveland, Ohio. He was born in Scranton, Pennsylvania to Florence and Dominick Aiello, attended West Scranton High School (1950), and graduated from Lafayette College with a degree in Mechanical Engineering (1954). He served in the US Army at the White Sands Missile Testing Range in New Mexico, where he met his wife, Betty Jeanne (d. 1993) and married in 1958. He worked at Frankford Arsenal after separation from the Army from 1958 to 1962. In 1962, he accepted a position with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), moving to Fairview Park.
During a 2019 reunion at Lafayette College, he reminisced about his decision to join NASA:
“When the government announced we were going to the moon, I said ‘I’m going, too’. I ended up doing structural analysis on jet engines, which led to general analysis of space structures”. He also worked on the Ranger Program, helping develop an unmanned spacecraft that continuously transmitted images of the moon’s surface to Earth, paving the way for the Apollo program. “So that’s how I touched the moon”.
During his career at NASA, he worked on the Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle programs, as well as earning his master’s degree in aerospace engineering. He retired from NASA in 1989 but continued as a consultant for NASTRAN structural analysis software doing contract work for several NASA contractors, including the current ORION capsule.
Robert developed a deep interest in the early history of the United States, particularly the years leading up to and culminating in the Revolutionary War. He shared this interest in more than words—he planned and led family excursions ranging from visiting the Alamo in San Antonio, Texas, Quebec City to commemorate the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, and the Fortress of Louisbourg, at the tip of Cape Breton Island. In his later years, he rekindled a lifelong interest in model trains, designing and constructing an elaborate track that occupied much of his basement.
He was preceded in death by his wife, Betty Jeanne (1993), his daughter Elizabeth Conaway (1974) (Edward, deceased 1978) granddaughter Melissa Conaway (1969), and sister Shirle Bouselli (2022). He is survived by his sister, Lois Chludzinski of Connecticut, two daughters, Maria Boyer (James) of Westlake, Ohio and Jeanette Wenner (George), of Sheffield Lake, Ohio; five grandchildren: Edward Conaway (Jamie) of Ankeny, Iowa, George (fiancé Colleen), Robert, and Elizabeth Wenner, and Madeline Boyer, and one great-grandchild, Michael Conaway of Ankeny, Iowa.
The family will receive friends on Thurday, November 6, 2025 from 4PM-8PM at Corrigan Craciun Funeral Home, 20820 Lorain Avenue, Fairview Park, Ohio. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated on Friday at 10AM at St. Angela Merici Catholic Church, 20970 Lorain Avenue, Fairview Park. Interment will follow at Holy Cross Cemetery in Brook Park, Ohio. There will be a reception after the interment at Corrigan Funeral Home in Fairview Park.
In Lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Robert Aiello Scholarship Fund at Lafayette College, Easton, Pennsylvania. For additional information, contact Lafayette College.
