Harold August Schroeder

Harold Schroeder, known to friends as "Hal," passed away in 2021 at the age of 85 years after a brief illness. He is remembered as a beloved grandfather, devoted husband and father, uncle and friendly person who always had a fun joke or story to keep us entertained. His calm and steady presence will be greatly missed, as well as his encyclopedic mind that seemed to know the answer to any question. Hal was definitely the person that you wanted on your trivial pursuit team!

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Hal graduated from Illinois Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics, and from Syracuse University with a Master of Science degree in Mathematics. He was a pioneer in the computer industry and started his career at General Electric in upstate New York in the mid-1950s. There he met another young mathematician named Priscilla Harvey, who became his best friend and wife of over 61 years until her passing in 2019. Together, they raised daughter, Susan, and son, William.

Hal had a long and productive career as a mathematician systems analyst in the aerospace and defense industry. In 1963, Hal joined I.B.M. and the family moved to Maryland where Hal worked with NASA on the Apollo space missions. He was a true “rocket scientist.” In 1971, the family moved to Westlake Village as Hal was with the Federal Systems Division which worked on top secret contracts with the U.S. Airforce. When I.B.M. moved the division to Colorado in 1986, Hal took early retirement but continued working for several more years at Rocketdyne on the international space station.

Hal was a life-long learner and had many interests and hobbies including woodworking, gardening, photography, classical music, cooking, travel, reading, and watching movies and TV on his in-home movie theater screen. He will be remembered for his kindness and compassion, friendly spirit, willingness to listen, ability to fix anything, and his deep love of family. He is survived by daughter, Susan, son, William, daughter-in-law, Sonia, grandchildren Jennifer Desmarais, Giselle Grieco-Routh, and Christopher Schroeder, nephew, Dr. Ralph Lessor, and niece, Karen Moran.

An outdoor graveside service will be held to honor Hal on Friday, May 28th at 2 pm at Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Memorial Park, 5600 Lindero Canyon Road, Westlake Village, CA 91362.