Albert Joseph Trautwein

On December 14th, 2013, our loving father, Albert Joseph, age 87, passed peacefully at home surrounded by his family, the greatest of love, music, and with a joyful amen and alleluia. Born to the late Albert and Julia Trautwein and raised in Kensington section of Philadelphia, he attended Northeast Catholic High School. At the age of 17, our father enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corps and served as a First Sergeant and Navigator, flying twenty-eight missions in the South Pacific during WWII and honorably discharged in August 1945. He received his Bachelor of Arts from Temple University and Master of Education and Specialist in Education Degrees from the University of Florida. He dedicated his life’s work to public education, working for over forty-seven years in the Philadelphia, Pennsbury and Cheltenham, PA school districts. In 1950, Albert married our loving mother Jane M. Cliggett of Kensington section of Philadelphia. Over their sixty-three years together they lived in Levittown prior to residing in Cheltenham for fifty years and recently relocated to Flourtown, PA. As his children, we are honored by the respect and gratitude expressed by many former students and to learn of the profound influences our father contributed to their lives. Our father was inspired and in awe of nature every day of his life. He greatly enjoyed surf fishing and the privilege of being a lifetime member of the Long Beach Island Fishing Club. He was also an avid runner and swimmer, who remained committed to fitness his entire life. As a family, we celebrate and continue our generational traditions of hiking and biking in Fairmount Park, camping in the Poconos and trips to the Jersey shore and Ormond Beach, Florida. In addition to his loving wife, our mother Jane, Albert is survived by his eight children: Stephen (Lynne Petherbridge), Susan (Harry Ernst), Judi, Amy (Gerry Gerhard), Mary (Thomas Breslin), Daniel (Andrea Walter), Joseph (Jennifer Greve), Jenifer, twelve grandchildren, and six great grandchildren. Relatives and friends are invited to join our family in celebrating our father’s beautiful life. Viewing will be held Saturday, December 21st, 9:00 A.M. followed by Funeral Mass at 11:00 A.M., Medical Mission Sisters Chapel, 8400 Pine Rd, Philadelphia, PA. Burial will follow at Resurrection Cemetery, 5201 Hulmeville Road, Bensalem, PA. Contributions may be made to the Medical Mission Sisters, a healing presence at the heart of a wounded world (www.medicalmissionsisters.org).