Jan. 27, 1951 - Jan. 4, 2015
Hal Van Engel, age 63, passed away unexpectedly on Sunday morning, January 4, 2015, following open heart surgery at Carson Tahoe Regional Medical Center in Carson City, Nevada. He recently lived in Minden, Nevada, and for over three years has worked as a software engineer for Informa in Zephyr Cove, Nevada. The son of the late Dolores and Kermeth S. Engel, Hal was born on January 27, 1951 in Harvey, North Dakota. He attended Standing Rock High School in Fort Yates, North Dakota, and was a regular member of the Honor Society, as well as participated in the All-State Band, having been chosen as an outstanding cornet player in North Dakota. Hal later attended Chico State University to study Computer Science, and after graduation found employment in the Bay Area, both at IBM for a short time, and then as a systems analyst at Chevron Corporation for 14 years. He loved aviation, and over the years has attended air shows regularly, and in the past built planes, both model and real - more recently, he was the primary coder and maintainer of the virtual P51D aircraft for the FlightGear community: (http://wiki.flightgear.org/North_American_P-51_Mustang). He was also a trumpet player for the Walnut Creek Concert Band from 2001-2011. Hal is survived by his wife, Ofelia, and his stepson, Joseph, as well as his siblings Keith, Monte, Shelly, and Bob. Hal was an intelligent, loving, and kind man throughout his whole life. The family will invite friends and coworkers at Valley Christian Fellowship 1352 US Hwy 395, Gardnerville, Nevada 89410 at 4pm on Saturday, June 27, 2015.