Alexander C. Prah

Alexander Charles Prah of Dayton, OH passed away peacefully Monday, April 28. He was 97. Alex, as he was called, was surrounded by family in his final days and remained lucid, able to speak with his loved ones and hear their words of love and appreciation. 

Mr. Prah emigrated to the United States in 1950 from Austria, having escaped Communist persecution with his family after the conclusion of World War II. That extraordinary act of survival was not his first. He’d been conscripted into the Wehrmacht against his will at age 16 after German forces occupied his native Slovenia. The story of his escape from a bicycle-mounted unit being sent toward certain death on the Russian front could fill a book. 

Upon reaching the U.S., Mr. Prah soon found himself in a second war, serving his adopted country in Korea. At the conclusion of that conflict, he used his foreign language skills (he spoke Croatian, Slovenian, German, Russian and English fluently) to aid Air Force intelligence, retiring as a Senior Master Sergeant on January 31, 1978 after 26 colorful years of dedication to our National security. 

His military career concluded, Mr. Prah went on to earn a degree in Economics from Wright State University which he applied in his second career as a Civil Servant. Mr. Prah was not only devoted in his service to his country, but also to his family. He met the widowed June Joy House at a folk dance on Langley Air Force Base in 1954. Still in mourning a year after her husband’s passing and dressed in black, she told him she had three children. Ever the charmer he asked “are all of them as cute as you?” They were married on June 29, 1956 in Newport News, VA and visited six continents and over 50 countries together.

Alex was a dedicated father to Jonathan, Andrea and Joyanna, and a loving grandfather to Alex, Alicia, Eric, Heather, Matthew and Jennifer, all of whom survive him. After June Joy's passing, Alex became the constant companion of Barbara L. Carrigan, with whom he traveled extensively.

He leaves a legacy of worldly erudition, care for his family, and pride for the freedom and opportunity he found in the U.S., which he spent his professional life supporting and his personal life extolling.