Al Rom’s red-letter day

Sandra ClarkAnderson, Obits

Albert Michael Rom, 100, died peacefully at home April 19, 2021. What a wonderful life he lived and what marvelous contributions he made to the country and his adopted community of Oak Ridge. Read his obituary here for a more detailed story.

Al’s parents, Mary and Michael, emigrated from Slovenia to Minnesota, where Al and his seven siblings were raised. The family survived the Great Depression by farming potatoes. They harvested 80 bushels each year and had potatoes at every meal. Al was the first of his family to finish college, graduating from the University of Minnesota in 1942 with a degree in chemical engineering.

That June, he was offered a job at the University of Chicago, researching the fission of uranium to make plutonium for weapons. In June 1943, he was called in by Robert Oppenheimer who asked him to move to Tennessee to work on The Manhattan Project. Al said that was a “red-letter day” that changed the trajectory of his life.

Albert Michael Rom contributed to the war effort, raised a family and helped build Oak Ridge.

A funeral mass will be held at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, April 27, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 327 Vermont Ave., Oak Ridge.

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