ALFRED P. DR. WEHNER

DR. ALFRED P. WEHNER 1926-2018 Dr. Alfred P. Wehner, beloved by his family and respected by all who knew him, passed away the evening of September 21, 2018. He was 91 years old. He is survived by daughter Patricia and husband Mark Mushegan; Al Jr. (Ali) and wife Diane; Jackie and husband Michael Olson; and Peter and wife Cindy; by 11 grandchildren Alex and Ashley Mushegan; Nikki Wehner Cline and Kelsey Wehner Pontarolo; Stephanie, Sarah, Benjamin Olson and Heather Olson Bode; and John Paul, Christine and David Wehner; and by two great-grandchildren, Kayson and Carter Cline. His family will hold a private ceremony in his honor. Alfred P. Wehner was born on October 23, 1926, and raised in Wiesbaden, Germany. His mother left him and her husband when he was nine years old, and he was raised by his father, Paul. Alfred was a 13-year-old when World War II began. In preparation for required military service, he earned his first wings as a glider pilot at age 15, his sail plane pilot's license at 17, and then entered the German Air Force. At this late stage in the war, however, he was sent to the Eastern Front for infantry duty. When Germany surrendered in May 1945, Alfred found himself 200 kilometers behind Russian lines. He spent 13 harrowing days making his way back home. (The day he returned home from the war, along with the day he immigrated to the United States, were more important to Alfred than even his birthday.) It was only after the war that he learned about the monstrous nature of the German regime, an experience that shaped the rest of his life. Alfred studied medicine and dentistry at the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, where he earned his candidate of medicine degree (1949), his doctor of dental medicine degree (1951) and the equivalent of his doctor of science cum laude in public health (1953), with eventual specialties in inhalation therapy and toxicology. In 1953 he fulfilled a dream and, with two suitcases in hand, immigrated to the United States, a nation he came to love. In New York City he met his future wife, Ingeborg Miller. It was the beginning of a wonderful love story. In 1955 they married and became parents to four children, all of whom deeply admired and loved him. His precious Inge passed away in 2013. Dr. Wehner and his family settled in Dallas, Texas, and in 1967 moved to Richland, Washington. In 2015, he moved to Carlsbad, California, where he spent his remaining years with Resi Ditzel, whom he had first met when he lived in Germany. They were able to close out their years together with great love and affection. Dr. Wehner achieved a distinguished professional career. He was a pioneer in introducing electro-aerosol inhalation therapy in America and was a project manager and principal investigator and toxicologist at Battelle Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. He authored more than a hundred scientific publications, held three U.S. patents, served as chairman and presented at numerous international symposia and congresses. After his retirement, he established a consulting group comprised of scientists from four continents. Alfred was a man of great intellect. He delighted in experiencing foreign cultures, customs and lands, traveling to 39 countries on five continents. He enjoyed painting, photography, writing, and studying national and international affairs. In 1972, he wrote his autobiography From Hitler Youth to U.S. Citizenship: The Story of an Immigrant. (He dedicated it to the people of America.) As a young man, he enjoyed foil fencing, judo and rifle marksmanship. Alfred's children remember him as a loving and devoted father, witty and good-humored, who provided them with safety and discipline, comfort and counsel, and countless happy memories. Many of his fondest memories were with his family at their cabin in the Cascade Mountains, where they hiked, hunted, boated and fished, played cards and chess, and read books on their cabin porch overlooking Rimrock Lake. There were family dinners, walks along the Columbia River, and hours as a family watching their favorite television series (like the original Star Trek series and his all-time favorite character, Mr. Spock). And there were cherished times during family reunions at the Oregon coast. As his children grew up, Alfred and Inge would visit them some lived near to them, others afar and they carved out wonderful new memories. His family was his great harbor of joy. Dr. Wehner was a person of courage and dignity. He was organized, disciplined and lived by a code of ethics. He was as good as his word. Given the hardships he experienced early in his life, it is remarkable he turned out to be the wonderful man he did. Few people could have risen above circumstances that would have been ruinous to many others; and he lived a life not of perfection but of nobility and integrity. When his children said their final good-byes to him, it was he who comforted them, as he always did. In Alfred's later years, he became a Christian, after a lifetime of doubt. He said he had always felt like a man looking in at a beautiful house from the outside, but that now that he was in, he would never let God go. Those who loved Alfred Wehner throughout his long and impressive life take great comfort in knowing that God will never let him go; that he now belongs fully to the Lord and is with Him in Glory.