Gale Wayne Gortemiller, 72, passed away in early February in his home in Stafford, Texas of natural causes. Born on April 17, 1946 in Pine Ridge, Arkansas, he was the son of William Henry "Bud" Gortemiller and Mary Ellen Williams Gortemiller. Gale is survived by sister Patsy Ann (John) Herron and preceded in death by his parents, his brother William Randy (Sue) Gortemiller.
Gale never married and had no children. He is also survived by his niece, Natalie (Eric) Dolan of Houston, Texas, their children and grandchildren, aunt Jimmie Carolyn (Wayne) Tabor of Lindale, Texas and their family, aunt Velma Gortemiller and her family, and several cousins and their families.
He graduated from Sam Houston High School in 1964. He worked for the City of Houston water department reading water meters until he was drafted into the Vietnam War in 1966 and was stationed at the First Air Calvary base doing structural repairs on helicopters. It was a formidable task keeping the helicopters in the air. They worked 20-hour days and got one Sunday a month off to rest.
He had three months remaining in his army service and met a man who had heard about IBM getting the contract with NASA for communications during the space program. IBM considered their training to be the equivalent of a college education. It took a top-secret security clearance to work in Building 30 at NASA which took about four months to secure and he worked there all during the Apollo programs. He was not working the board but was in the building when we landed on the moon. When IBM's contract with NASA was not renewed, he got a job with Western Geophysical as Computer Operations Supervisor/Manager. Western Geophysical did not offer a retirement plan but had a profit-sharing program instead. He retired from that position around 50 years of age. For a while he ran an air-conditioning business.
Gale will be missed by family and friends. He will be interred in Houston National Cemetery later in the year.
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