Alton Los Long, Jr.

Alton Los Long, Jr. passed away peacefully on January 22, 2019, at the Elizabethtown Masonic Village, PA after a long battle with cancer, while surrounded by loved ones.

He was a proud Texan, born in Liberty, TX on September 25, 1932 to Alton Los Long, Sr. and Charlie Mae Abington Long DeVassie.  He was brought up by his mother and his step-father, Harry “Sandy” DeVassie, and spent most of his childhood in New Braunfels, TX.

He married Dorothy E. Morgan Long in 1955 in Pittsburgh, PA, and raised their family in Wayne, PA before retiring to Tiverton, RI in the late 1990’s.  He was very dedicated to his family, and he and his wife Dotty made sure their children got to experience the history, cultures and geography of the US and the world. He also enjoyed making redware pottery with his wife, Dotty. 

His family members included: his wife, Dorothy (Dotty) E. Morgan (deceased), children, Elizabeth (Betsy) M. Long and spouse, Patti Keough, Charles A. Long and spouse, Carolyn Hiler, Margaret (Margie) E. Long and spouse, Madeline Thompson, and Mary Anne Powers, and spouse, Steve Powers;  four grandchildren, Gene Jerskey (Charles' son), Jocelyn Wright and Shane Thompson-Long (Margie's children), and Malcolm Powers (Mary Anne's son); three nephews, Edward Morgan, Jeffrey (Jeff) Freeman IV, and Willard (Bill) Freeman; In-Laws Marjorie Morgan Freeman and spouse Joseph Freeman III, and Emily Rigby Morgan, spouse of Walter Morgan (deceased). 

Alton earned his Bachelors and Masters Degrees from Carnegie Tech University, Pittsburgh, PA in Nuclear Chemistry, where he was also a bagpipe and French Horn player with the Kiltie Band. He later in life earned a Masters Degree in Organizational Dynamics and strategic planning at the University of Pennsylvania. He was also a graduate of the Defense Systems Program Management College in Virginia.

He was a veteran who served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corp, stationed at Fort Monmouth, NJ, initially working in intelligence and then was assigned to do research in Nuclear Weapons Effects at Los Alamos, NM.

In his professional career, he was employed as a Sr. Engineering Manager at Burrroughs/Unisys for Computer Engineering.   He had the opportunity to work on the creation of the ILLIAC IV computer which was the largest in the world at that time and helped to install it at the NASA Ames Research Center in Mountain View, California in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was also offered an opportunity to become a White House Fellow and he and Dorothy had the opportunity to meet LBJ and Lady Bird Johnson in the White House.

He was an experienced wine educator, public speaker and certified wine judge. He served as the Past President for the American Wine Society and was a member of the AWS Premier Cru Chapter. He was a member of the Rhode Island Academy of Wine, the German Wine Society, the Portuguese Wine Society, the Wine Society of Wine Educators, American Institute of Wine and Food, and the Pennsylvania Wine Association. He produced many wine, beer and food events, and was a regular contributor of wine articles to the Morning Call in Allentown, PA, the Suburban in Philadelphia and the New England Wine Gazette. Additionally, he served as the Vice-Conseillor of the Rhode Island Le Confrérie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs.

He was a member of the Elizabethtown, PA Masonic Village Lodge, was a Baron of the Magna Charta and a Son of the American Revolution, assisted in the discovery of the element, Aluminum 26, and was listed in "American Men of Science".

He and his wife Dotty were very active and committed to fighting for and educating about LGBTQ rights. 

He attended the United Methodist at the Elizabethtown Masonic Village Church, and in his earlier years, was very active at St. Matthew’s United Methodist Church in Valley Forge, PA where he served on many committees and was Church School Superintendent. At the Portsmouth United Methodist Church in RI, he helped create a program to support homeless families; he was also a Boy Scout Master in the Valley Forge area. He enjoyed being a teacher that taught chemistry and physics at Monmouth University in Long Branch, NJ; was PTA president in Wayne, PA and was a well liked substitute teacher in the Portsmouth and Bristol-Warren school districts in Rhode Island. 

A graveside service will be held on at 10:20 on Satuday, May 11, 2019 at Washington's Chapel at Valley Forge National Park, in the General Muhlenberg area, section B, space #78. Famiyl will receive guests from 10-10:15 in the library, when walking down to the site. A memorial service will follow at the Bishop White Library, 2000 Valley Forge Park Rd., King of Prussia.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to the Masonic Village of Elizabethtown, Office of Gift Planning, 1 Masonic Dr., Elizabethtown, PA in honor of all the love and care they have shown him.

We celebrate his life as he joins his beloved wife, Dotty. 

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