Torstein Strand

STRAND, TORSTEIN 1919 to 2006 Born in 1919 in Agdenes, Norway, Torstein was the only son and eldest of four children. By age 20, he had nearly finished his air cadet training when WWII broke out and Germany began invading Norway. With two other cadets, and without asking leave of their parents, they skied to Sweden in below-zero temperatures to volunteer with the Norwegian wing of the RAF. Flying a spitfire, he was protecting allied ships as well as the Western European coast, he was shot down in flames over Dieppe, France. After 13 months as a prisoner in Stalag Luft #3 in Germany (in the barracks next to the prisoners who made the now-famous "Great Escape"), he was released and exchanged as one of the more severely wounded POWs. Later, he was sent to Washington, D.C. to work in the Norwegian Embassy. His country sponsored his studies at MIT where he earned his first Aeronautical Engineering degree before returning to manage an aircraft plant. It was there that he and his wife Irene became parents of their only son, Glenn. Their return to the United States saw him working for Boeing in Seattle and later GeneralDynamics here in San Diego, during which time he managed to obtain two further degrees in Theoretical Aerodynamics at Cal Tech. He founded Air Vehicle Corporation in 1962 (near Montgomery Field), which did research and development proposals for U.S. governmental contracts. He was a member of the "Foreign Officers' Club", and he spent his later years managing his real estate interests, and in his free time playing bridge with several Point Loma groups and also traveling extensively. Active until his death on the night of Christmas, he leaves behind his son Glenn, daughter-in-law Joani, companion Amelia, grandson Bruce, and two sisters in Norway, Margrete Morset and Aashild Vinge. A celebration of his life will be held within the next few weeks.Please sign the guest book at obituaries.uniontrib.com