My name is Eric Slimko, I work for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory.  I had the great pleasure of meeting Bernie in 2006 and working with him for a number of years.  In addition to having great technical insight and a deep understanding of the historical development of his field, he was also a great pleasure as a person.  He will be sorely missed by his colleagues. I really wish I had more time to work with him.

My name is Mike Tauber and I worked at NASA-Ames.. I met Bernie first at least twenty years ago (early 1990s) when he came to Ames for an informal discussion of the testing of the Galileo Jupiter probe's heat shield material.  His expertise and knowledge was impressive immediately. Subsequently, he gave me a brief tour of Aerotherm (although the company's name may brave changed already at that time). When Bernie joined our division at Ames, we spoke frequently and had become friends by 2001 when I moved to Washington state after retiring from NASA. While I continued to work part-time for Ames from my remote new home, we spoke on the phone, exchanged emails and met at technical meetings. 
Bernie was always helpful to me with technical matters. In addition, he gave freely of his time by making charts for my technical talks, because I did not know how to use Powerpoint. In January 2010, we gave a  joint seminar  at Ames, explaining the anomalous ablation of the Jupiter Galileo probe's heat shield. Bernie provided his technical expertise and made all the charts. A few months later, he was kind enough once again to make all the charts for a presentation that I was scheduled to give on short notice. I could not have met my deadline without his help. As a token of my appreciation for his frequent help and kindness, I sent  Bernie a Cross pen engraved with his name and was touched by his gracious acceptance. 
When he became ill, we exchanged emails and discussed our medical problems. Sadly, his proved to be much more serious than mine. Bernie was not only a colleague, but a true friend and a gentleman. I miss him very much.

My name is Bob Javinsky and I had the pleasure of working with Bernie from 2003-2007. When I first started my job as Finanicial Ops Manager for Bernie's organization at NASA, I was in over my head. I had to do the job of 2-3 people, learn a new financial system,  and I had a lot of tough customers to deal with. My interactions with Bernie helped me get through those first difficult months. On the Business side, he was the most patient Project Manager I worked with in that he understood that I was learning a whole new finance system. Even if I made mistakes with the financial reports I delivered to him, he never said anything negative to me about it. (I can not say the same for most of the others)  On the personal side, I really appreicate that he took the time  to share many stories of his past with me. I enjoyed hearing his stories, about growing up in Brooklyn and working on the Apollo vehicle. I have repeated several of his stories to family and friends over the years and they loved hearing them.  I can still hear his funny laugh if I pause to think about him. He will be missed.  My prayers are with him and his family during this difficult time.

OBITUARY

Bernard Laub

Passed away on FEBRUARY 12, 2013

Willow Glen Funeral Home

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