Alan F. Kratzsch

Alan F. Kratzsch

Alan died January 13, 2020, in Omaha, Nebraska, at age 83 after a long illness. He was preceded in death by his father Frederick E. Kratzsch and mother Eleanor A. (Budzinski) Kratzsch. He was born on June 30, 1936, in Milford, Massachusetts. Alan graduated from Milford High School and attended Ventura College in Ventura, California. He enlisted in the US Marine Corps and became a flight radio operator on military transports and later a gunner on helicopters in Korea. He was wounded when his “chopper” was shot down over the demilitarized zone by North Koreans breaking the cease fire after the Korean War was over. After a long convalescence, he attended Massachusetts Radio & TV School, graduating as a radio-TV repairman. He married the former Genevieve “Jean” DeLoia of Milford in 1958 and had eight children – five sons and three daughters: Alona Jean of Florida, Paul and Dana of Marshfield, Massachusetts, Gina of Kingston, Massachusetts, Dale of Hopkinton, Massachusetts, and Alan, June and Duane of Plymouth, Massachusetts. He leaves 19 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. In addition to his close relatives, he leaves many cousins, aunts and uncles in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Ohio.

In 1973 Alan returned to college, graduating with degrees in accounting from Bryant & Stratton College of Boston and Suffolk University. He was employed for 11 years with the former Bank of New England in Boston, from which he retired as a Senior Bank Examiner in 1985. While there he was a member of the Supervisor’s Association and the Greater Boston Bank Officer’s Association. In 1985 he moved to Nebraska and became a Contract Examiner for the Army Corps of Engineers in Omaha, then for the Defense Finance and Accounting Service at Offutt Air Force Base, from which he retired in 1998.

He was a member of the Bellevue Eagles’ Aerie #3912, a life member of the DAV for over 50 years, a life member of the VFW, and a member of the American Legion. In recent years he became one of the first 8 members of the “Viper” unit of the Bellevue Police Department, volunteering for the city.

In his early years, Alan was a well-known dancer in the New England area, partnering for 8 years with the former Veronica Abretti. After high school, he became a professional dancer under contract to MGM in California. In later years he sang in local Massachusetts clubs and was a member of the US Army Corps of Engineers’ choral group, “Esprit de Corps” for 9 years, participating in many new citizenship ceremonies in the area and performing at children’s hospitals and wards at Christmastime.

Preceded in death by his wife Patricia White, of Bellevue.

Visitation: Friday, January 17, 5:00 – 7:00 p.m. at Bellevue Memorial Chapel.

Funeral Service: Saturday, January 18, 9:30 a.m. at Bellevue Memorial Chapel.

Interment: Bellevue Cemetery

In lieu of flowers, memorials suggested to the American Lung Association.