Alfred Begleiter

Alfred Begleiter, 77, of West Orange, formerly of Bridgewater and Springfield, died Aug. 26, 2013. Born in Vienna, he grew up in Brussels, Belgium, as a hidden child during the Holocaust before moving to the United States with his mother in 1951.

Mr. Begleiter worked as an engineer for Western Electric and stayed on through all of the company changes as it evolved into Lucent and AT&T. While there, he worked on the DEW (Distance Early Warning) Line System, which ran across Greenland and detected incoming ballistic missiles aimed at the United States.

He attended Columbia High School, Maplewood, learning to speak English for the first time and serving as president of the French Club.

He is survived by two daughters, Elyse and Sari (fiance Danny); his son, Jonathan (Angie); his former wives, Tina Begleiter and Vera Begleiter; and two grandchildren.

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Services were held Aug. 29 with arrangements by J.L. Apter Memorial Chapels of Dover. Memorial contributions may be made to Daughters of Israel, West Orange.