More detail on this person: LTC Ralph P. Weber USA(Retired) Mathew and Gladys Brabant Weber's number two son, Ralph Paul, was born in San Francisco (fifth generation) on 23 January 1936. He passed on to a better place from home in Canyon Lake on 29 January 2011. In 1954 attended UC/Berkeley briefly before switching to digging ditches for an underground pipeline company. Consciously avoiding the draft, he joined the California National Guard where his commanding officer spotted his potential and recommended him for testing leading to a Reserve Corps Component appointment to the US Military Academy at West Point, New York. Upon graduation in 1959 he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the US Army Signal Corps. Approved for aviation training in 1963, Paul transitioned from fixed wing into helicopters as well as the deHavilland Caribou and US Navy surveillance aircraft. He served two Aviation/Signal/Military Intelligence tours in Vietnam and achieved an MSM degree from USC before being appointed as the Army's Joint Program Officer to the fledging classified USAF NAVSTAR GPS Phase 1 Development Program 1974-1978 in Los Angeles. The Army's and Magnavox's focus were on creating a portable GPS manpack-the 25-pound forerunner of today's palm pilot! [photo] In September 2010 he was among some of the "50 Heroes" honored at the Institute of Navigation/Global Navigation Satellite Systems 20th anniversary conference in Portland for contributing significantly to GPS's revolutionary development. In 1979 Paul switched to the civilian side of aerospace for 17 years, primarily at TRW. The Webers moved to Canyon Lake in 1996, where Paul served continually on the CLAMS Board. In 1960, near Stuttgart, Germany, Paul married Nancie Anderson. He is survived by sons Eric M. and wife Dawn of Orlando and Dennis D. and wife Jami of Dallas. A daughter, Kristin E. Weber, pre-deceases him. There are six grandchildren: Haley, Alexandra, Randall, Madison, Caroline, and W. J. Benton. He is also survived by his brother Matthew and Lee Weber of Chico CA, and Peter and Connie Weber of Claremont, plus several nieces and nephews and his long time companion, Wally Weber. Services will be at the Canyon Lake Community Church on Tuesday, February 15th, at noon. Burial will be at West Point, New York. Suggested for donations: West Point '59 Fund, LTC Art Griffin, 13860 Crabtree Way, Gainesville VA 20155. Alternatively, Charter Hospice, 1012-G East Cooley Drive, Colton CA 92324.
Burial information: USMA Post Cemetery, West Point, NY
This information was last updated 03/17/2021
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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
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