Posted on 01/15/2019
Paul F. Allmendinger (March 2, 1922 - December 16, 2018)
Paul F. Allmendinger, age 96, died December 16, 2018, at Doctors’ Hospital, Augusta, Georgia. He had fallen, suffered a head injury, and did not regain responsiveness following surgery for a blood clot on his brain.
Paul was born in Moline, Illinois, and attended public schools there before entering Augustana College in Rock Island, IL. After a year at Augustana, he received a Congressional appointment to the U.S, Naval Academy at Annapolis. He entered in 1941 with the class of 1945, graduated in June 1944 (wartime shortened course), and served in the South Pacific until the end of the war. He was married in August 1947 to Sara Jo Breazeale of Belton, South Carolina, and they had three sons.
He served aboard the heavy cruiser Tuscaloosa from June 1944 until the end of the war, duty which included action at Iwo Jima and Okinawa. In 1945 he transferred to flight training and resigned from the Navy in 1947. He kept a painting of the Tuscaloosa on the wall and a photograph of a PBY Catalina on his desk.
Following resignation from the service, Paul worked as an engineer in the automotive and power tool industries before retiring as a Divisional Vice President for Rockwell International in Pittsburgh. He then became the Vice President of Technical Affairs for the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association in Detroit. In 1981 he was named Deputy Director of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), headquartered in New York City, and retired as its Executive Director in 1987. At ASME, Paul oversaw an association of more than 100,000 members with a staff of 350 and offices world-wide. His sons remarked upon his corner office in mid-town Manhattan overlooking the East River and the United Nations Plaza. His wife was thrilled to travel with him to ASME meetings in the British Isles, Europe, Latin America, and Asia.
Paul was tirelessly active in professional engineering societies and was often recognized for his efforts. He was a member of the boards of directors of the Society of Automotive Engineers and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). He chaired the Board of Standards Review of ANSI, and the Accreditation Committee of Engineers’ Council for Professional Development. He subsequently was named President of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology, the official body for the accreditation of engineering schools in the United States. He was also a member of Tau Beta Pi, the only engineering honor society representing the entire engineering profession, and he was listed in Who’s Who in the United States. He was a Fellow of ASME, and was recognized internationally as a Fellow of the United Kingdom’s Institute of Mechanical Engineers and a Fellow of the Institute of Engineers of Australia. He did graduate work at the University of Toledo and the Harvard School of Business.
Following his 1987 retirement from ASME, Paul and Sara Jo built a home at Keowee Key in Salem, South Carolina, near Sara Jo’s childhood home. Paul did not let time hang heavy on his hands. He did consulting work, and he volunteered, including serving for two years as the president of his property owners association. In 2004 he moved to Brandon Wilde in Augusta, GA, a life care community and was still at it, serving as Chairman of the Resident Council and as a member of the Board of Directors. He was an avid golfer and tennis player.
Paul is survived by his wife of 71 years, Sara Jo (Breazeale), three sons, James (Kay Oppenheimer) of Durham, NH and Aiken, SC, Glen (Jackie) of Boulder, CO, and John of Greenwich, CT. Paul has two grandchildren, the son and daughter of Glen and Edie Twining, Reed Allmendinger of Park City, UT and EMay Allmendinger, of Boston, MA, and three step-grand-daughters, Mary Jane Curry of Rochester, NY, and Elizabeth and Julia Curry, of Burlington, VT, and two step-great grandsons, Austin and Eli Pine of Burlington, VT. Contributions in lieu of flowers should be made to the National Alliance on Mental Illness.
Online condolences may be expressed at www.arlingtonfuneral.com.
Arlington Burial & Cremation
1220 George C Wilson Drive, Suite C
Augusta, GA 30909
(762) 994-0311
http://www.arlingtonfuneral.com/obituaries.cfm?id=504