Henry Rael’s two feet were always planted firmly “on the ground,” but he loved studying the galaxies, space flight and the mysteries of religion, said his daughter, Loring Abeyta of Denver.
Rael, 81, who died Nov. 22, worked on missiles and finance at his day jobs but was a devoted amateur astronomer by night.
Fascinated by meteor showers and the aurora borealis as a kid, Rael bought a telescope for his home and joined the Denver Astronomical Society. He eventually became president.
“Hank was a true friend of astronomy in Denver,” said Robert Stencel, associate professor of physics at the University of Denver and director of the Chamberlin Observatory at DU.
Rael was on the Van Natten Scholarship Fund committee, which helps science students.
He often took his kids to the observatory in southeast Denver to hear discussions about new discoveries and space flights.
“I’m sure he would liked to have gone to Mars and the moon,” said his son, Henry S. Rael Jr.
The senior Rael also studied philosophy “and puzzled about religion,” Loring Abeyta said.
Henry S. Rael Sr. was born in Pueblo on Oct. 2, 1928, and one his jobs as a teenager was picking melons in southeastern Colorado.
To help with college expenses, he sold tickets at a bus station.
He was on his way to work one day when an Army recruiter spotted him and Rael joined, said his daughter, who lives in Denver.
One of his most memorable experiences was in 1951 when officials at the old Stapleton Airport called Lowry Air Force base asking to land planes at the base because Stapleton was fogged in. The circling planes were getting low on fuel.
Rael, a master sergeant, gave the approval “and planes and taxis started arriving,” said Henry Rael Jr., of Denver.
But his father almost was court-martialed — until the airlines began calling Lowry, thanking them for the help and saying Rael’s decision saved hundreds of lives.
Rael earned his MBA from DU. He worked at Stanley Aviation, a Denver company that built planes and where he was put in charge of installing the computers.
At Lockheed Martin, he was a systems analyst on the Titan II missile project, his son said. Henry Rael Sr. did finances at Teikyo Loretto Heights University and retired from the Tri-County Health Department, where he was director of administration and finance.
He married Helen Warner Brace in 1957. She died in 1980.
In addition to his son and daughter, Rael is survived by a grandson and his sister, Lucy Jasper, of Seattle. A sister and brother preceded him in death.
Virginia Culver: 303-954-1223 or vculver@denverpost.com
Other Deaths
Col. Jack Pitchford, 82, a retired Air Force fighter pilot from Mississippi who survived seven years in the Vietnamese prison camp known as the “Hanoi Hilton,” died Wednesday after battling a brain tumor, said his brother, Jim.
The Natchez, Miss., native was shot down in 1965 and taken to the Hoa Lo prison, enduring torture in the same place as U.S. Sen. John McCain and other veterans.
Pitchford was released in 1973. McCain was released the same year after spending five years in the prison.
Pitchford was born John Joseph Pitchford Jr. on May 29, 1927. After earning his wings, he joined the Wild Weasels and was responsible for destroying surface-to-air missiles.
