Daniel Austin Aldredge

Daniel “Dan” Austin Aldredge was born August 24, 1942 in Slater, Missouri to Charles Daniel and Lela Belle Aldredge. Dan joined the Air Force in 1960 after graduating from Harry Ells High School in Richmond, CA. His tenure in the Air Force lasted through the Cold War and the United States standoff with the USSR during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

After serving four years in the Strategic Air Command, he worked for several private employers before returning to serve with the Air Force in the newly formed Air Reserve Technician program (or ARTs program) as a Crew Chief for KC-135’s (“Air Tankers”) and later C-141’s.

He worked for a short while at McClellan AFB, along side Test Pilots, serving as a quality control manager, ensuring that military aircraft (typically Fighters and Fighter-Bombers) were fit for service following scheduled maintenance.

While serving in the Air Force at Fairchild AFB, he met his wife, Cecille through a USO function, and married two years later. Following his initial four years of active duty, he and Cecille moved to Richmond where they had their two sons, Tim and Tom. Their daughter Sarah came along shortly after moving to their first home in Fairfield, CA.

In 1977, the family moved to Sacramento, CA where Dan would later come to loath the summer heat and cold foggy winters that were common through the 70’s and 80’s. While the weather left much to be desired, Dan would often take the family to escape from the heat and fog to the mountains for backpacking trips, fishing, swimming, snow sledding and many other fun adventures. Dan successfully passed on his love for the mountain wilderness to some of his kids.

After retiring in 1998, Dan and Cecille moved back to Spokane, WA where they first met (and where Cecille grew up). For the twenty six years following retirement, Dan would often be seen ushering at his church, Valley Assembly on any given Sunday morning,

Dan is survived by his son’s Tim and Tom and his daughter Sarah Aldredge.

Throughout the years, Dan cared for his family and was a model of a strong work ethic. He will be missed.