Leonard Julius Reinhart *53

L.J. Reinhart, retired Navy captain, died Oct. 11, 2015, after a brief illness. He was 93.

While Reinhart was attending Parks Air College, he joined the Navy’s V-5 training program, and after completing his degree in 1943, he entered active duty. After the war, the Navy sent him to Princeton, where he earned a master’s degree in aeronautical engineering in 1953.

Then, after test-pilot school, he spent three years at the Naval Air Test Center in Patuxent River, Md., testing many airplanes. He became commanding officer of an attack squadron on the USS Independence, an aircraft carrier serving in the Mediterranean. There he spent three tours of duty and made 250 carrier landings, 50 of them at night.

For his final tour of duty, Reinhart returned to Patuxent River in 1966 as director of weapons-system testing. He retired from the Navy in 1969, moved to Florida, and worked for an engineering-consulting firm until retiring in 1985.

Reinhart was predeceased in 2004 by Frances, his wife of 59 years. Two children also predeceased him. He is survived by two children and a granddaughter.

Graduate memorials are prepared by the APGA.