Walter F. Altenburg

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Walter Altenburg of Elizabeth, NJ on January 18, 2022 at the age of 81. But it is with great joy and privilege that we celebrate his life, a life defined by decency, integrity, kindness, respect of others, a sense of humor, steadfast devotion to family and friends, and mentoring others. Walter was born in 1940 in New York City. He was the only child of his father, a piano dealer, and his mother, an accomplished artist. His early life was spent in NYC where he attended the Quaker Brooklyn Friends school and his teen-age years were spent in the hamlet of Boston Corners in the Berkshire mountain region of New York state. Growing up he basked in the stability of his parents’ love, the nurturing of the small community, and where he learned the values that he carried through his life.

Education

In 1958 Walter graduated from the Roeliff Jansen Central High School with an outstanding academic record. He was the valedictorian of his class, the recipient of numerous awards, and a partial scholarship to Swarthmore College.

At Swarthmore, Walter’s interest in chemistry was awakened, so he transferred to Pratt Institute, known for its renowned chemistry department. In 1962 he was graduated from Pratt at the top of his class with a B.S. in Chemistry.

He continued his graduate education at Pratt on a part-time schedule while working full-time at his first job at the NY Sugar Trade Laboratory. In 1973 Pratt awarded him an M.S. degree In Chemistry.

Career

Walter’s career was in the field of sugar chemistry, in which he was a nationally recognized expert. He published numerous research articles and spoke about his work in sugar chemistry at technical conferences.

In 1963 after graduation from Pratt Institute, Walter began working for the NY Sugar Trade Laboratory in New York City (now in Cranford, NJ) as a chemist. The laboratory was established by American sugar companies to independently measure the quality of imported raw sugar. He rose through successive positions to become President and Chemist-In-Charge, upon retirement of his predecessor, Dr W. W. Binkley. As President, Walter modernized the laboratory’s business, quality control, and chemistry data management systems by converting traditional paper-based systems to computers. His improvements enabled the laboratory to improve efficiency and profitability and to secure its position as the dominant independent testing laboratory for the sugar industry in the country.

While president of the laboratory, Walter practiced the values he learned growing up and carried with him all his life. At work he treated his clients with integrity, and his employees with dignity and respect, taking a personal interest in them as people and often establishing long term friendships with them and their families. He gave job opportunities to immigrants, mentoring them as needed, and remained on hand outside the job to help them and their families get settled and establish new lives in America. In addition he found time to give back to the community by helping families of inmates of the Brooklyn House of Detention.

After more than 50 years at the NY Sugar Trade Laboratory, Walter retired to spend time with his loving wife of 31 years, Ena Komets-Altenburg, and to pursue their interests in the arts, music, theater and travel. In addition to Ena, Walter leaves behind cousins, in-laws and many friends.

A non-denominational informal memorial will be held on Saturday, February 5 from 2:00 to 4:30 PM at the Higgins and Bonner Funeral Home, 582 Springfield Avenue, Westfield, NJ 07090, Tel 908-789-7400. At 3:00 PM, attendees whose lives he touched will be invited to share their memories and thoughts of Walter.