John L. Altieri

John L. Altieri of Key Largo, Florida died on April 8th. He was 93.
He was born in Rutherfordton, North Carolina in May 1926, one of five children of Annie Pearl (Gaffney) and Louis J. Altieri.
After graduating from St. Peters High School on Staten Island in 1943, he joined the Navy and was assigned to a Naval engineering program at Columbia University. In 1945, weeks prior to his deployment on a Pacific bound destroyer, he married the love of his life, Eileen Mary Rudden.
John graduated from the George Washington University School of Engineering in 1948. His early career began at Voorhees Walker in New York City.
In 1959 John started his own Mechanical and Electrical Engineering firm in Norwalk, Connecticut, now Altieri Sebor Weiber LLC. The firm was selected by world class architects to design systems for theatres, museums, concert halls and aquariums on four continents including the Getty, Guggenheim and Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the Osaka Aquarium and the Yale Whale. His clients included Pritzker Laureates Philip Johnson, Kevin Roche, I.M. Pei, Richard Meier; AIA Gold Medal honorees Marcel Breuer, César Pelli, James Stewart Polshek, Robert Venturi; and other greats including John Dinkeloo, Warren Platner, Charles Gwathmey, Robert A.M. Stern and Michael Graves. He was a mentor who created a culture of excellence and teamwork in his firm.
John was a visiting professor at the Yale School of Architecture for more than 20 years and in 1986 he was elected a Fellow of ASHRAE.
He retired in 1994 but never stopped donating his engineering and construction skills to his Parishes, Clubs, Malta House and Habitat for Humanity, where he served as a director.
John was widely regarded as an expert problem solver, often devising solutions by fostering community, and encouraging and empowering others. He recognized the need to assist those caring for others until the day of his passing and co-created the Forget-Me-Nots, support groups of family and paid caregivers.
John was an active parishioner at St. Pius X and St. Justin Martyr and a member of The Patterson Club and the Ocean Reef Club.
He was predeceased by his cherished wife of sixty-five years, Eileen Mary, his infant son, Joseph, sisters Rosemary Champlin, Nancy Attenhofer, brother Gerard Altieri and daughter-in-law Maudie Altieri.
He is survived by his sons John and Peter (Sandra), grandchildren Christopher (Ester), Sheila, Kieran (Sara), Kevin (Tracey), Matthew (Alice), Anne, Brianna (Ryan) and John Shelton, and great grandchildren Mikaylah, Calyb, Joseph, Peter, Rachel, Eleanora, Eva, Mabel, John Anthony, Cora, Henry and Beatrice and by his brother Joseph Preston Altier, cousin Gerardo Carlo Altieri and many nieces, nephews and greats.
A memorial Mass will be celebrated at St. Pius X Parish in Fairfield at a date to be announced.