Carlos H. Reynales

Carlos Humberto Reynales was born April 8, 1922, in Bogotá, Colombia, and died on August 31, 2021, in Los Alamitos, California. After graduating from the American School in Bogotá, he came in 1941 to the United States to attend Park College, now Park University, in Missouri. He made the trip from Colombia to New York by riverboat on the Magdalena, by the Grace liner Santa Rosa, and thence by rail to Kansas City and car to Parkville.

He earned a BS in chemistry with a minor in physics at Park College, where he was captain of the soccer team, followed by a BS in business administration at the University of Southern California. He also took courses in engineering at USC and in enology at the University of California at Davis. He became a US citizen in 1955.

A resident of Long Beach for more than 60 years, he worked at Douglas Aircraft, McDonnell Douglas Missiles and Space Division, Space Technology Laboratories, and TRW, retiring from the last as a senior scientist and systems safety engineer. He was also a partner in Mundo Trade Company, an import-export venture, and a member of Sigma Xi, the American Chemical Society, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

In his youth, he collected stamps and coins. Later he enjoyed exploring national parks with his family, gardening, listening to classical music and Colombian and Mexican folk songs, and watching ballet, folk dancing, and soccer.

He is survived by Barbara Wallace Reynales, his wife of 73 years; by his son, Tad Edward Reynales (Lezlie Ann) of Solana Beach, and his daughter Patricia Ann Reynales of Santa Barbara; by two grandchildren and three great grandchildren; and by his brother-in-law Richard Alexander Wallace and his family. He was preceded in death by his father, Eduardo Reynales; his mother, Maria del Carmen Rodriguez; his daughter Cynthia Teresa Reynales; and his sister, Cecilia Reynales Baldassini.

Funeral services will be held privately. The family asks that any memorial contributions be made to KCET.org or PBS SoCal.