[meteorite-list] A Tribute To AL Havrilla

[AL Mitterling]

A Tribute To AL Havrilla

It has been ten years ago today that AL Havrilla passed away. This was my
tribute to him back then.

Some of you may have known AL as he was a meteorite collector. Perhaps some
of the meteorite dealers may have known him better. He read the list and
was a lurker.

AL Passed away Wednesday September 17th  2014. He had a long history of
illness due to his diabetes. He was born in Ohio and was a past member of
the Chagrin Valley Astronomy Club. He worked on the Hubble Space Telescope
Project in the photo lab and he is credited with photos he worked on in the
book Galaxies by Timothy Ferris.

AL was a avid meteorite collector and lived, breath, and studied
meteorites, as this was his biggest passion. AL didn't have much money in
which to acquire specimens but saved up money and would make two, three or
four purchases per year as his budget allowed. His collection grew to about
100 nice specimens over a period of 22 plus years. I was honored to be able
to provide him with a number of his specimens.

He would call me for my offerings, and we would often talk for 30 or 40
minutes at a time about meteorites, astronomy and what all was going on. I
had an occasion to visit with him in person twice when I went to Washington
D.C. and we went to see the national collection of meteorites.

Due to his poor health he was put on disability and was a shut in for a
great part of his remaining years. Meteorites were his escape and kept him
going, along with reading Meteorite Magazine from cover to cover. Also
telephone calls seem to pick him up when he called me or I called him. I
know that he also dealt with Blaine Reed often and talking to Blaine lifted
him up

A few years back he began thinking about what to do with his specimens
before he suffled off the Earth. He contacted me to assist him with this.
He had decided to try to partially donate/sell his collection to a museum
that did education and had outreach programs. His collection could then be
seen by children and adults in order to become better acquainted with
meteorites. I was able to find a great museum for his specimens. I drove to
his location in Baltimore, MD., and spent a day or two there and then took
his collection with me, where I later delivered the specimens to the museum
of his choice.

While it was hard for AL to part with his specimens (he did retain some) he
knew  his specimens would be going to a place where they would do the most
good and it would give him some credit and a small legacy. He derived a
great deal of satisfaction and some relief from doing this.

AL will be missed by a number of us and there is now another hole in the
meteorite world.

--AL Mitterling
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