Alton "Al" Werner

Alton “Al” Werner (77), of Lincoln CA, passed peacefully at home, after battling pancreatic cancer for two years. He leaves behind his wife of 28 years, Laurie, son Eric, stepsons Kevin and Carl (Holly) Spaeth, as well as three grandchildren, Annika, Henrik and Knute Spaeth. He enjoyed a wonderful relationship with all three sons and three grandkids. He will be remembered by many extended family members, former golfing pals, and many good friends from the U.S. and Austria who he worked with over the years. Al was born to Wayne and Edith Werner, in Valparaiso Indiana. He enjoyed Little League baseball, bowling and bike riding (once riding his bike with a friend the 13 mile trip to Lake Michigan and back). He had a job as a paper carrier and also worked in a bowling alley. He was on the LaPorte High School bowling team and claimed to have once bowled a perfect 300 game. After high school Al went to college at Tri-State, now Trine University, where he was a member of Sigma Phi Epsilon, and earned his aerospace engineering degree. After college graduation, Al’s first job was with McDonnell Douglas in St. Louis, as a design engineer on the F-15 fighter plane. However, he was soon drafted into the US Army, during the Vietnam War. He served 3 years, from January 1971 to January 1974. He was an instructor at Fort Lee, Virginia, and later a flight test engineer at Fort Edwards, California. After the army, at the age of 25, he was offered a job with Bell Helicopter, but if he took it he had to fly out the next day for Tehran, Iran. He accepted, and had a number of close friends from that job. He often talked about the great skiing in Iran, and the friendships he made. His next job was in Haifa, Israel, as an engineer on the brand new F-16, which he called the most interesting job he ever had. When Al returned to the US, he became a sales engineer, starting and developing 2 companies, both with ties to Austria. He also developed several patents, one being a portable scale for animals, especially zoo animals. Al was a donor to the Sacramento Zoo, and when they asked for donations to buy a scale to weigh a sick mountain lion, Al offered to make one for them. The scale was very popular with zoos both in the US and internationally. When Eric was young, the family enjoyed many behind the scenes tours of zoos, as well as a trip to Zambia to donate a scale to an elephant orphanage. Al and Laurie married on August 13, 1998, after training for and then running the Berlin Marathon in 1997. Al had run quite a few marathons, including Sacramento, Chicago, and Vienna, and convinced Laurie to train with him for Berlin. After Eric was born in January 2000, and then Carl graduated from high school (Kevin was in college), the family moved to Granite Bay, CA, and stayed there until Al was diagnosed with cancer. Al loved playing golf and also being Eric’s number one fan at his many athletic events. After his diagnosis, Al agreed to move to Sun City Lincoln Hills, and did everything he could to make that move go well. Al was very generous, easy to talk with, and very grateful for the life he lived. He will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

Alton "Al" Werner

November 15, 1948 - August 16, 2026