Vincent Marcalus - Obituary

incent Joseph "Vince" Marcalus, 73, a 31-year resident of Edgewater, and previously of Darnestown, died Sun. Dec. 7 at Anne Arundel Medical Center of a ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm. Born Jan. 6, 1935 to the late James Anthony Marcalus & Marion Gansereit Marcalus in Passaic, N.J. He graduated in 1952 from Fairlawn High school where he was a member of the marching band, composed high school Alma Mater, and was 1st Chair Baritone Horn in NJ State Band. In 1956 he received his Bachelor Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Syracuse University in Syracuse, NY. In the early 1960's he served as Captain in the US Airforce stationed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. He worked as one of the key developers in designing a radar tracking device for the experimental plane X15. He also worked briefly as an engineer for Hughes Aircraft and NASA. His knowledge with computers in its inception landed him jobs working for IBM and Honeywell. For 30 years, he was employed as the Director of IT for the US Federal Government in multiple areas, including the Department of Treasury, Customs Bureau, & Veterans Administration. After working for the Smithsonian Institute in Washington DC for 10 years, he retired in 1996. In early post-retirement years he was briefly employed by the US Postal Service in Edgewater. His memberships included Sigma Xi & Theta Tau during undergrad studies 1952-1956 and in the 1970's-1980's he was an active member of the of Boy Scouts of America as Troop Leader for troop # 815 in Edgewater. He enjoyed coin collecting, music, reading, gardening, traveling, & spending time with his grandchildren. He is survived by his wife of 52 years, Elizabeth Marie Marcalus of Edgewater; four sons, Steven Marcalus of Bishopville, Craig Marcalus of Berkeley Springs, W.Va., Jeffrey Marcalus of Davidsonville and Eric Marcalus of Edgewater; one daughter, Tracey Verschueren of Edgewater; two brothers, Fred Marcalus of Jewell, Iowa and John Marcalus of Spokane, Wash., three sisters, Kathleen Smith of Washington, N.J., Sister Annamarie Marcalus of Clinton, Iowa and Francis Rairdon from Riverside, Calif.; and five grandchildren: Amanda, Michael, Jeremy, Bryce and Jacob Marcalus. Visitation will be held on Thurs, Dec., 11, 2 p.m. - 4 p.m. & 6 p.m - 8 p.m. at Kalas Funeral Home 2973 Solomons Island Rd. Edgewater, MD 21037, Funeral Service on Fri. Dec. 12, 10:30 a.m. at Kalas Funeral Home. Interment at Lakemont Memorial Gardens. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Boy Scouts of America, 701 Wyman Park Drive Baltimore, MD 21211.