Obituary of Gabriel Allen Hartl

Colonel Gabriel A. Hartl (USAF Retired) Former President, ATCA On Janurary 23, 2013 Gabriel Hartl, 89, passed away. He is predeceased by his wife Vivian and 11 siblings. He is survived by his sister Elsie Kratovil, 97, of Madison, Nebraska, several nieces, nephews & cousins and his children, Jeffrey of Overland Park, KS, Cynthia of Reston, VA and Mark of Annandale, VA. Born in Nebraska in 1923, Gabriel retired from the USAF after 30 years of service. He continued his interest in air traffic control when he became President of the Air Traffic Control Association (ATCA) in 1975. He increased ATCA's prominence as an international organization by bringing together all sectors of the ATC community to discuss issues in USA and international forums. Date/time of funeral service at Arlington National Cemetary to be scheduled at a future date. Visit http://www.adamsgreen.com/ for details. Gabriel Allen Hartl became the 13th child of Anton & Emma (Stoklasa) Hartl of Stanton, Nebraska the day after Valentine's Day in 1923. Three of his siblings had perished before he was born. He joined Miles, Lumir, Jarmil, Elsie, Emily, Mary, Joseph, Libby and Bessie as part of the family that originated in what is now the Czech Republic. He graduated from high school and pursued his talent in baseball for a short time while working. In 1943 he joined the Army Air Corps as a 1st Lt. serving in the 2nd Combat Cargo Group, 54th Troop Carrier Wing, 5th Air Force, 8th Combat Cargo Squadron in the Pacific Theatre during WWII. He met Vivian Jynesta Beebe and married her after a short courtship on June 18, 1944 at the Syracuse Army Air Base in New York. As his career progressed, his new family grew to include Jeffrey in 1947, Cynthia in 1950 and Mark in 1957. Gabe graduated from the command & Staff School in 1956 and the Air War College in 1965 in between his duty stations that took him to New York, Alabama, Massachusetts, Colorado, Hawaii, Alabama, and Virginia. He was Chief of the Flight Division for the Directorate of Operation in the headquarters of the USAF in the mid sixties. In 1968 he took command Air Force Advisory Team 5, Da Nang Air Base Vietnam where he worked with South Vietnamese Air Force Units. After his return in 1969, Gabe became Deputy Chief of Staff for the Flight and Airspace Management of the Air Force Communication Command with executive staff management responsibility for over 700 air traffic control and navigation facilities, and over 6000 operating personnel at 135 worldwide locations. He retired from the USAF in 1973. In 2000, the ATCA Board of Directors nominated Gabe as the recipient of the Glen Gilbert Memorial Award which honors the lifelong achievements of an individual in the field of aviation. The award is on permanent display at the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum in Washington, DC. Through his frugal fiscal management, ATCA was able to acquire the suite of offices it is now located at in Alexandria, VA prior to his retirement from the association in 2003. With his extensive ATC background, Gabe was selected by the Board of Directors of the Air Traffic Control Association to become its Executive Director in 1975. Through his efforts and fiscal management he increased revenues by soliciting corporate memberships & integrating exhibits of suppliers of ATC products and services into the Annual Meeting held each year at various locations in the USA. By the mid 1980's he had negotiated an agreement with the FAA allowing employees to join the association using the dues withholding method and had worked with Larry Fortier and others to establish the ATCA Scholarship Funds. Beginning in 1990, ATCA conducted international forums in Canada, Hong Kong, Belgium, Australia, Switzerland and the Czech Republic which broadened ATCA's outreach to the international ATC community to increase their participation & involvement. Category A. Scholarship in a two- to four-year air traffic control program at an institution approved and/or licensed by the Federal Aviation Administration as porting the FAA's college and training initiative. Gabe was an Honorary Member of ATCA, as well as, a member of the Air Force Association, ALPA and the Society of Airway Pioneers. His legacy lives on in the memories of the lives he touched, his passion for aviation and air traffic control, his dedication to service and his kindness and generosity of spirit that knew no boundries.