Obituary of Frederick Elasesser

Fred L. Elsaesser, 96, of Glastonbury, husband of Bernadette (Orland) Elsaesser, died late Thursday March 27, 2014 at Hartford Hospital. Born on February 12, 1918 in Mitchell, South Dakota, he was the son of the late Henry and Elsa (Reichert) Elsaesser. He started his engineering career living in Paterson, New Jersey where he worked at Wright Aeronautical in the design of engines for the war effort. Mr. Elsaesser received his Master of Science degree in engineering from Columbia University. He had lived in Glastonbury since 1958 and in Jupiter Florida while working as a project engineer at Pratt & Whitney's West Palm Beach location. He was proud to have been involved in the design of many of P&W's engines and especially the J58 engine, which powered the top secret and now famous spy plane: the SR-71 Blackbird. Mr. Elsaesser earned a number of patents involving military and commercial jet engines, including one that was granted recently when he was 95 years of age. Besides his wife, he is survived by a daughter and son-in-law Beth and Fred Schwarz of South Glastonbury; by a son and daughter-in-law Rick and Susan Elsaesser of Brunswick, ME; a brother Oscar Elsaesser and his wife Patricia of Shallotte, NC; and five grandchildren and their spouses; Frederick Schwarz, Kristin Schwarz, Caitlin and Jeremy Gantz, Ted and Liza Elsaesser, and Carl Elsaesser. Funeral service will be private. Memorial donations may be made to the Helen and Harry Gray Cancer Center Fund, c/o Fund Development Office, 80 Seymour Street, P.O. Box 5037, Hartford, CT. 06102-5037. For online condolences please visit www.mulryanfh.com.