Otto William Thiele

Mr. Otto William Thiele passed away peacefully surrounded by his loving family on Monday, December 15, 2014 in Laurel, Maryland at the age 87.  Otto was born on July 5, 1927 in Austin Texas to Dena and Otto F. Thiele.

Otto is survived by his beloved wife of 56 years, Elizabeth (Betty) Thiele,  sister Dorothy Thiele, four children Richard (Liz), Karen (Mark), Lynn (Wayne), Lisa (Sean), and nine grandchildren, Carolyn, Andrew, Kevin, Laura, Brent, Brian, Christopher, Jacob, and Zachary.

Otto joined the Merchant Marines in 1944 on his 17th birthday and later in 1951 joined the U.S. Navy where he served as a commissioned officer during the Korean War.

After leaving the Navy, he received his B.S. in Meteorology from the University of Texas in 1957. As a meteorologist he worked as a civilian for the Army at White Sands Missile Range, NM. His work there took him to Fort Churchill, Manitoba, Canada where he met his wife Betty McKenzie. Otto later accepted a position as Director of NASA’s Apollo tracking ship, USNS Vanguard stationed in Cape Canaveral FL.

Following the Apollo and Skylab missions, Otto transferred to Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland in 1974, where he returned to his research in upper atmosphere weather conditions. This led him and other scientists to begin a research project called TRMM (Tropical Rain Measurement Mission), a joint US – Japanese satellite mission to measure precipitation over tropical ocean areas, a project Otto considered to be his most significant career accomplishment. During his 32 year tenure at NASA, he received numerous awards and was a highly respected scientist. Otto retired in 1999 from NASA. In addition, Otto had been a Master Mason for more than 60 years.

Otto is remembered by his family as a loving husband, father and grandfather who has provided them with family values, adventures, and wonderful memories of trips to Canada, Myrtle Beach and Deep Creek.  Otto was a gentle and passionate man who loved to garden, golf, play his guitar in a blue grass band, and spend time with his grandchildren.

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