Obituary of Alexander Onyskin

Alexander (Al) Onyskin- age 98, of Huntington, New York passed away on Tuesday, January 19, 2021. Al was born in New Jersey on November 25, 1922 and grew up in Brooklyn and Queens, New York. He graduated from Brooklyn Polytechnic High School in January 1941 with an aptitude for mechanical engineering. Upon graduation, Al was hired by the Ford Instrument Company as an engineer, and the United States entry into World War II made the focus of his work wartime innovations. After Pearl Harbor, he began working on parts to help steer the Navy’s Ship-mounted gunfire control instruments among other things. In 1941 Alexander wanted to join the military, but his technical knowledge and machinist skills were so advanced that he was deemed vital to the war effort and thus received a full military deferment to continue his work. However, in 1943 he requested a release from his civilian deferment and joined the Army Air Force as an aviation cadet. In 1944, he was commission as a Second Lieutenant and got his flight wings. He was discharged in October of 1945. After the war, he returned to his job as an engineer, continuing to learn and hone his skills, especially those involving the miniaturization of parts. In 1951 seizing an opportunity for expanding peacetime aerospace work, he formed the FAE Engineering Company with two partners. As the Cold War and the Space Race progressed, Al and FAE Engineering became a reliable source of spacecraft parts for the US government. In addition to his work on manned spacecraft during the space race, Al also played a role in the success of the Hubble Space Telescope in the 1970’s. He also contributed to the Hubble project a second time when miniature parts that his company designed were instrumental, helping to correct the flaws in the main mirror of the telescope after it was launched into space in 1990. Al was preceded in death by his wife Anne Mankes Onyskin, his parents Roman and Katherine Onyskin,his brother Michael Onyskin, and nephew Michael Onyskin, Jr. Al is survived by his late wife Anne’s three children, six grandchildren and one great-grandson. Funeral Service will be held on Saturday, January 30, 2021 at 2:00 p.m. at Plain Lawn Cemetery, 279 W. Old Country Road, Hicksville, NY