Alvah Ernest "Al" Esser Jr.

Alvah Ernest ("Al") Esser, Jr. longtime resident of the Palos Verdes Peninsula, passed away in Solvang, California on May 7, 2014. He was 94 years old. Al lived in Palos Verdes from 1952 to 1958, and Rolling Hills from 1958 until 2009. Born in New York City in 1919, he became an Eagle Scout in 1935, and graduated from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1938, and Yale University in 1942, where he played hockey for the Yale Bulldogs, and earned a degree in chemical engineering. Al worked for 40 years in the global petrochemical industry. After Pearl Harbor, he crossed the country to Long Beach, California, joined the Navy, and spent the war ensuring naval specification grade aviation fuel was shipped to the Pacific theatre. After the war he went to work for Mobil Oil, where his father worked for many years, and later worked for C. F. Braun and Ralph M. Parsons. His work at Parsons included three years as Principal Engineer supervising the construction of the city of Yanbu in Saudi Arabia, where he received a medal and commendation from the Saudi Royal Commission in 1981 for his distinguished service.

Al was an avid traveler and photographer, who loved his family, tennis, golf, music, dancing, gardening, fishing and managing investments. His beloved wife, Reinette Hall Esser, died in 2009. Al leaves behind five children, one brother, eight grandchildren, and four great grandchildren, including daughter Nancy Salcedo of Larkspur, California, and sons John Joseph Esser of Harbor Springs, Michigan, Robert David Esser of Santa Ynez, California, Peter Van Name Esser of Honolulu, Hawaii, and Alvah Ernest Esser, III, of Phoenix, Arizona, and brother Robert W. Esser of Huntington, New York . Private graveside services are scheduled at Green Hills Cemetery in Rolling Hills, on May 23, 2014, at 10:00 AM.


Funeral Home:
Green Hills Mortuary and Memorial Chapel
27501 S.Western Ave.
Rancho Palos Verdes, CA
US 90275