Alton Los Long Jr. passed away peacefully on January 22, 2019, at the Elizabethtown Masonic Village, Pennsylvania, after a long battle with cancer. He was born in Liberty, Texas, on September 25, 1932, and was brought up by his mother, Charlie Mae and his step-father, Harry “Sandy” DeVassie in New Braunfels, Texas.

He married Dorothy Morgan Long (deceased) in 1955 in Pittsburgh, Penn., and raised their family in Wayne, Penn., before retiring to Tiverton in the late 1990’s. He was dedicated to his family and enjoyed making redware pottery with his wife.

Alton earned his Bachelors and Masters Degrees from Carnegie Tech University, Pittsburgh, in Nuclear Chemistry. He was a veteran who served as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Army Signal Corp, stationed at Fort Monmouth, NJ, initially in intelligence and then doing research in Nuclear Weapons Effects at Los Alamos, NM.

In his professional career, he was employed as a Senior Computer Engineering Manager at Unisys.

He attended the Portsmouth United Methodist Church and was a well-liked substitute teacher in the Portsmouth and Bristol-Warren school districts.

He was an experienced wine educator and certified wine judge. He served as the Past President for the American Wine Society and a member of the Rhode Island Academy of Wine and many more. He was a regular contributor of wine articles to the New England Wine Gazette. Additionally, he served as the Vice-Conseillor of the Rhode Island Le Confrérie de la Chaine des Rotisseurs. He assisted in the discovery of the element, Aluminum 26, was listed in "American Men of Science", and he and his wife Dotty were very active and committed to fighting for and educating about LGBTQ rights. 

He is survived by his four children and their families. We celebrate his life as he joins his beloved wife, Dotty. 

He will be interred at Washington’s Chapel, Valley Forge Park, Penn. A celebration of life service will be held in the springtime.  For information, please email the family at longfamilypotters@gmail.com. Arrangements have been entrusted to Miller-Finkenbinder Funeral Home & Crematory, 717-367-1543

Condolences and memories may be shared at www.FinkenbinderFamily.com

Memorial donations may be made to the Masonic Village of Elizabethtown, Office of Gift Planning, 1 Masonic Dr., Elizabethtown, PA 17022.