Obituary of William “Bill” Wahl

William “Bill” Wahl, USAF Retired Lt Colonel, age 90, died on Saturday, January 12, 2019 at Inspired Living At Palm Bay, Florida. Bill graduated college with a Bachelor’s and Master’s Degree in Engineering.  He then joined the US Air Force in Pilot Training.  As a student he broke the World Altitude Record in a Lockheed T-33 Jet Trainer. Following graduation he was assigned to Air Training Command, for one year.  Then he was selected to join Strategic Air Command for B-52 Bomber Training. As an Aircraft Commander, Bill was assigned special missions for the CIA and the FBI.  After the Air Force, Bill joined the Boeing Company in their Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Program (Minuteman).  He installed these nuclear missiles in Montana and South Dakota. Bill’s next adventure in 1966 was to join North American Rockwell at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.  The company built the spacecraft that went to the moon in 1969.  Bill was in charge of the Environment Control Systems on the spacecraft. In 1970, all of the engineers and scientists at the space center were laid off.  In 1972 all space travel to the moon stopped and has never returned since that time. In the 1960’s Bill learned the best lessons of his life of adventure.  In the early 1960’s he went to work as a pilot for Eastern Airlines in Miami, Florida.  A year and a half later, Eastern Airlines went bankrupt in Miami and he lost everything.  The only security one has in life is what they do with their time. The later years of his life have been spent in accidents and injury investigation with government agencies. A loving husband and father, he is survived by his wife of 56 years, Madeline; his son, William “Chip” Wahl II; and his grandchildren, William Wahl III, Tripp Wahl and Emma Wahl. Mass will be held at St Joseph Catholic Church, Babcock Street, Palm Bay FL at 9:30 AM on Thursday, January 17, 2019.  Burial will follow at Fountainhead Memorial Park Palm Bay. Arrangements by Ammen Family Cremation and Funeral Care. In lieu of flowers the family requests that a decade of the rosary be said in Bill’s memory.