Leonard Trachtenberg

MILFORD, Pa. - Leonard Trachtenberg, 96, passed away peacefully Thursday, June 13, 2013, at Belle Reve Senior Living Center in Milford, Pa., from complications from a fall in April. Born in Newark, N.J., Leonard was a longtime resident of West Orange and, in retirement, Budd Lake, N.J. Leonard is survived by his children, Peter Trachtenberg of Culver Lake, N.J./Port Jervis, N.Y., Jan Weber of El Paso Texas, and by members of an extended family.

Leonard was a member of The Greatest Generation. He attended Newark College of Engineering, majoring in geology. In his 20s he saw the Second World War coming, enlisting early out of college and joining one of the Coast Artillery units stationed around Washington, D.C., to protect the city from air attack. Later, he led a group of men as Allied forces invaded and freed North Africa and Italy. Like other members of his generation, he seldom spoke about the war.

In later years, he used his training in geology to help plan the locations of several of the Western Union microwave transmission systems (series of sites) traversing the country. These systems revolutionized the telecommunications of the time. Leonard was later promoted to a field engineer, supervising the construction of many of the sites. He took pride in not only bringing in difficult projects on time and budget, but also restoring the grounds of the sites, which came to be known, unofficially, as Trachtenberg's Parks.

Please make memorial donations to: The Mount Olive Public Library, where Leonard was a frequent patron, at www.mopl.org/drupal/node/57; or The Pike County PA Karen Ann Quinlan Memorial Foundation at www.karenannquinlanhospice.org.