Obituary of Fred E. Sakalay

Fred E Sakalay Worcester, PA- Fred E. Sakalay, 98, formerly of Poughkeepsie, NY passed away on August 9, 2017. Predeceased by Angela, his beloved wife of 60 years, sisters Mabel and Marion (Pirog) and brothers Andrew and Ben. Born in Worcester MA. On October 13, 1918, he was the son of the late Elias and Mary Kelly Sakalay. Fred was raised in Manchester, NH and graduated from Manchester High School Class of 1936b winter during the great depression and worked as a "treer" in a variety of shoe factories to help support his family of 8. A WWII veteran, Fred was drafted in 1942 and served in the 334th Signal Company Wing in France, the Rhineland and Belgium. Honorably discharged in 1945 with commendations and the rank of Technical Sargent. Fred started college at RPI on the GI bill just two days after being discharged and graduated in 1950 with a degree in electrical engineering. While at RPI, he met his future wife, Angela Delores Nappi, on a blind date. Angela co-owned Rose's Bridal Shoppe in nearby Schenectady, NY and wrote the Church Page Weekly Prayer for the Schenectady Gazette. They married in 1951. Recruited by IBM in 1951, Fred repaired typewriters and time clocks until IBM moved him into the fledgling computer division where he designed the first computer mainframe memory. Received his MSEE degree in 1963 from Syracuse University. His master's thesis, "Count in Memory", was published and lead to patents. Over his 30 year career at IBM Fred received 50 patents for innovations in computer memory. Retired in 1981, Fred joked in his later years that he'd been retired more years than he worked. Fred loved fly-fishing for trout in the northern wilds of Maine and taught his little girl to fly cast at age 7. Went salmon fishing in Canada every June. Enjoyed tennis, pinochle and bridge. At age 93, after a lifetime of doing the bridge puzzle in the newspaper, Fred won "the pot" at his first live evening of bridge… playing with a group 30 years his junior. For 50 years Fred and Angela lived on Lorraine Boulevard in the Town of Poughkeepsie. In 2009, at age 91, they "upsized" and moved to Stony Creek Farms in Worcester, PA to be near family. Fred attributed his long life to a happy marriage, a healthy diet and exercise. As he reached his mid 90's, dodging major illness, his philosophy shifted and he delighted in telling young people to live it up and die young. Fred is survived by devoted daughter and son-in-law, Anne Sakalay and John Olivieri, East Norriton, PA., dear brother Harry, Moraga CA., nieces and nephews. Visitation will be held Thursday at 10:30 AM at St. Anthony's Church, Seward Place Schenectady N.Y. followed by a Mass of Christian Burial to be celebrated at 11 AM. Interment will follow in the Altieri Family Plot at St. John the Baptist Cemetery, Brandywine Avenue. Funeral arrangements are by the Lownes Family Funeral Home,Lafayette Hill,Pa. www.lownes.com