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Marcel C. Schiess passed away April 15, 2006 in Canton, PA after a brief illness. He is survived by wife, Susan; daughter, Mona (Francisco) Calvo, Silver Spring, MD; Mark (Teresa) Schiess, Sebastopol, CA; Michael (Melissa) Schiess Alameda, CA; grandchildren, Julia (Pedro) Bueno; Francisco C. Calvo; great-grandson, Simon Marcel Bueno; sister, Suzanne Fligner, Albuquerque NM; three nieces; and several cousins. Marcel was born in Rice Lake, WI in 1916 where he was known as a champion lake swimmer. He graduated from high school in 1934 after which he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps as a surveyor. He completed one year at Duluth Junior College and worked for rural electrification. He attended Stout Institute for 3 years before enlisting in the Army Air Corps in 1944, then attended weather school at Chanute Air Field in Rantoul, IL. After finishing officer training at Yale, he was commissioned and stationed on South Caicos Island in the Carribean as a weather observer and communications officer, being honorably discharged in 1946. He returned to Menomonie, WI and completed his fourth year at Stout Institute which is now affiliated with the University of Wisconsin. In 1951 Marcel received BS degrees in electrical and mechanical engineering from University of Miami, working as a machinist and photo engraver to support his family. He then moved to Albuquerque and began employment at Sandia National Laboratories. Over his 34 years at Sandia he was responsible for more that 20 patents, some registered in his own name. These devices ranged from Picnell floats used to track ocean currents to listening devices used during the Vietnam conflict. These listening devices did not fill with water when dropped into dense jungle and helped save many American lives. His engineering abilities were remarkable and many thought quite genius. He was adept at mechanical design, could wire any device he designed and could build it from scratch in the metal shop. He retired in 1989. He was a pioneer SCUBA diver starting in 1955 and was one of the founding fathers of the Dusty Divers, Albuquerque's first SCUBA diving club. He led many a diving adventure into extinct volcanoes and bottomless sink holes across the state of New Mexico and was written up in TIME magazine for an extinct shrimp that he and fellow divers rediscovered. Marcel taught SCUBA diving for more than 2 decades at the YMCA and volunteered to dive into the Nuclear Reactor at Sandia when ever there was a need. In 1993, Marcel and his wife, Susan, moved to PA, built a home on 8 acres, where he continued to pursue his interest in engineering, machinery, water sports and politics. His many friends and family will miss him. On April 19, 2006, a private military burial service was held in Canton.
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