Obituary of Robert B. McCalley

SCHENECTADY-- Robert Bruce McCalley, Jr. of Karenwald Lane, Schenectady, New York died at age 89 on August 8, 2012 after a short illness. He was born 17 December 1922 at Miami, Florida, and was the oldest son of Robert Bruce and Ida Castles McCalley. In growing up, he lived in Miami FL, Asheville NC, Savannah GA, St. Augustine FL, Columbia SC, and Sumter SC. He attended Boys' High School in Sumter SC but graduated from Dreher High School in Columbia SC in June 1940. He entered the University of South Carolina in September 1940 and was Lay Assistant at Trinity Episcopal Church, Columbia SC, for 3 years while a college student. In World War II, he joined the Army Reserve Corps as a private and was called to duty on 5 July 1943. He had basic training in 90mm anti-aircraft artillery at Camp Wallace TX, north of Galveston. He served several months in the Army Specialized Training Program (ASTP) at Texas A&M University until it was abolished. He then had basic training in combat engineers at Camp Claiborne LA near Alexandria. He was admitted to the Engineer Officer Candidate School at Fort Belvoir VA and became a Second Lieutenant in the Army Corps of Engineers on 18 October 1944. He served briefly in an engineer group in Camp (now Fort) Rucker AL near Ozark AL. He was shipped to Le Havre, France and was in a combat engineer battalion on the upper section of the Ruhr River of Germany when the war ended in Europe on 8 May 1945. In August 1945 he was in Antwerp, Belgium waiting for shipment to the Pacific Theatre of Operations when the atomic bombs ended the war with Japan. He was in Europe for a year after in the U.S. Army of Occupation. He was stationed in Salzburg, Austria and about 50 miles south near Schwarzach-St. Veit. He was in Frankfurt, Germany for about 7 months and returned home in July 1946. He re-entered the University of South Carolina in fall 1946, received a bachelor's degree in civil engineering (BSCE), magna cum laude, in June 1947. His Master of Civil Engineering (MCE) degree (1949) and his Ph. D. in 1952 came from Cornell University in Ithaca NY. On 4 July 1951 at Ithaca, New York, he married Anita Baker of Opelika, Alabama; there were no children. Anita died on 2 August 2007 in Schenectady. Over the years he worked for Cornell University, the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University (in Silver Spring MD and later near Laurel MD), Knolls Atomic Power Laboratory operated by General Electric Co. in Schenectady, U.S. Atomic Energy Commission in Germantown, MD, General Electric Aircraft Engine Group in Cincinnati, Ohio, and GE Machinery Apparatus Operation in Schenectady from which he retired in October 1987. He had given lectures or taught courses for: GE Advanced Engineering Program, Northeastern University (Boston), Pennsylvania State University, Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (NY), and Union College (Schenectady). He held professional engineer licenses in Maryland and New York. His engineering specialties were stress analysis, shock and vibration, and applied mechanics. He was co-author with Prof. S. H. Crandall of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) of a chapter on Matrix Methods of Analysis, in the Shock and Vibration Handbook now in its sixth edition (2010), edited by Allan G. Piersol and Thomas L. Paez. At various times he belonged to Phi Beta Kappa, Tau Beta Pi, Phi Kappa Phi, Sigma Xi, and the New York Academy of Sciences. He was a Life Member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, a Life Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and was listed in American Men & Women of Science and is now in Who's Who in Science and Engineering. He was a member of St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Schenectady. He had two brothers but no sisters. One brother, Gray McCalley of Augusta GA, died in 1997 and the other brother, Joseph Castles McCalley of Dallas TX died in 1998. His father was born in Fredericksburg VA and his mother in Columbus OH. He is survived by nieces: Diane Castles McCalley of Tujunga CA and Karen Lynn McCalley of McKinney TX. His nephews are: Gray McCalley, Jr. of Atlanta GA, Bruce Daniels McCalley of Sao Paolo Brazil, Brian Kemper McCalley of Austin TX, and Steven Craig McCalley of Gilbert AZ. There will be no viewing or visiting hours and services will be private. Remains will be cremated and interred with his wife's remains in the Columbarium Wall at Saratoga National Cemetery near the Saratoga Revolutionary War Battlefield Park. In lieu of flowers, a donation can be made to St. Stephens Church in Schenectady. Arrangements will be by Jones Funeral Home, 1501 Union St., Schenectady NY 12309, phone (518) 346-3881.