William Albert Lagrange

William Albert LaGrange October 13, 1923 – July 15, 2007 William Albert LaGrange, P.E., of Waco died on July 15, 2007. Memorial services will be at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, July 28 at Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey Chapel. He was born October 13, 1923, in Schenectady, NY to Harold C. and Florence L. LaGrange. He graduated from Nott Terrace High School in Schenectady and from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY where he received a B.M.E. degree in Mechanical Engineering. Mr. LaGrange joined Carrier Corporation air conditioning and refrigeration as a junior engineer. His first 10 months assignment was to the Carrier Engineering Course. The Science of Air-Water Vapor Mixtures was taught by Dr. Willis H. Carrier. Dr. Carrier was the author of the Rational Psychometric Formulae and the founder and chairman of Carrier Corporation. He was called “the father of air conditioning”. In Dallas on his first district office assignment he met, courted and married Patricia Carolyn Goar, a decision never regretted. For the next 18 years Mr. LaGrange’s responsibilities progressed to engineering manager of Special Products Group in Syracuse, NY. There he was responsible for the design, manufacture, testing and installation of special heating, cooling and refrigeration systems. Two of his best projects were the Three Minuteman Missile Defense Wings and the Apollo moon exploration programs liquid fueled Saturn rocket vehicle. Mr. LaGrange, with three other Carrier managers, founded a subsidiary of Carrier Corporation – Carrier Transicold Company devoted to the design and manufacture of transportation, refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment. He served as engineering manager and later as general sales manager. In 1972 he joined Carrier International as world wide product manager of transportation and marine products. His last assignment for Carrier prior to retirement in 1978 was as a Latin American marketing manager located in Coral Gables, Florida. For the next five years Mr. LaGrange was director of engineering for Packless Industries in Waco, TX, setting up their engineering, drafting, testing and laboratory operations. From 1984 to 2003 he presided over LaGrange Associates, a manufacturer’s representation firm devoted to the engineering and sale of heat transfer equipment. The manufacturer was Coil Company of Colwyn, PA and Texas was his territory. His career took his family to live in Dallas, TX; Jackson, Miss; New Orleans, LA; Syracuse, NY; Miami, Florida; and Waco, TX. His travels for Carrier International were to Europe, the Mideast, Australia, S.E. Asia and Japan. Mr. LaGrange was a member of Austin Avenue United Methodist Church. He was a member of the National and the Texas Societies of Professional Engineers and a licensed professional engineer since 1951. He was a life member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers. He also served on the board of the Waco Symphony Association and as a section chair for the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute. Mr. LaGrange was a past president of the Central Texas Chapter of Professional Engineers and was honored as Engineer of the Year, 1986. He was a Rotarian and belonged to the Waco Rotary Club. Close friends and associates will miss him greatly. He will be remembered fondly by his family as a loving husband, father, brother, grandfather and uncle. He is survived by his wife of 59 years, Patricia Carolyn Goar LaGrange; a daughter, Laura Michele Wright of Ocala, Florida; a son, Jay William LaGrange and his wife, Cheryl, of New Hartford, Connecticut; two granddaughters, Rachel LaGrange and Sarah LaGrange of New Hartford, Connecticut; a sister, Dr. Betty M. LaGrange of South Burlington, Vermont; a sister-in-law, Sara Terrell of Dallas, TX; and three nephews, Matthew, Bill and Preston Terrell. In lieu of flowers, send memorials to Austin Avenue United Methodist Church or Waco Symphony Association. The family invites you to leave a message or memory in our “Memorial Guestbook” at www.wilkirsonhatchbailey.com. Wilkirson-Hatch-Bailey