Andrew Carson MacAllister

Andy was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey to Edward and Ruth Ann MacAllister on February 16, 1953. His personality was best described by his pre-school teacher in a note to his parents.  "Andrew is incorrigible." 

In the early 60s, his family moved to Houston before being transferred to Teheran, Iran in 1966.  While there, Andy attended the Teheran American School and, along with his brother, engaged in activities such as throwing paper airplanes off the roof of the Teheran Hilton and winning too many prizes while playing bingo at the Officer's Club.  It was in Iran that he joined the Boy Scouts, ultimately becoming an Eagle Scout.  He also became interested in listening to short-wave radio and "fixing" electronics.  His grandfather MacAllister would give him broken radios and told Andy if he could fix them, he could keep them.

His family moved back to Houston in 1969 where he attended Westchester High School.  He also became a ham radio operator, WA5ZIB (later W5ACM). In his senior year, he met Heather in government class.  She spoke to him every day for weeks before he finally asked her out on November 1, 1970.  They went to a coffee house and talked so much, the performers complained. 

Andy didn't care about the senior prom, but Heather wanted to go, so he told her if she got her ham license, he'd take her.  She learned Morse Code and passed the test.  The license arrived in the mail the day of the prom.

Andy attended Austin College and the University of Texas where he received his Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering  Heather went to TCU, but they dated all through college and married on July 4, 1975. 

Unfortunately, nine weeks later Andy was diagnosed with cancer.  After months of tests and exploratory surgery, he was pronounced cancer free.  Having cancer at age 22 influenced the rest of his life.  He was determined to learn and experience as much as he could, and lived his life doing things now, rather than later, because later isn't guaranteed. 

Andy worked for Dresser Atlas as a down-hole logging Engineer, two years for Lockheed at NASA, designing space shuttle simulators, over 20 years at Daniel Industries in charge of technical manuals and certifications, and for 4 years as the Chief Operator at KTRU, Rice Radio.

He packed his life with a wide variety of interests and activities.  Here is a partial list:

• He was a columnist for 73 MAGAZINE for many years, writing about Ham Radio Satellites. 
• He served on the board of the Amateur Satellite Corporation
• After passing the license for the highest rank of radio amateur, his call became W5ACM, his initials.
• He held a patent for an underwater fishing light
• He was a member of MENSA
• He was the awards manager for his sons' Boy Scout Troop
• He once tanned a deer hide in the kitchen
• He liked brewing craft beer and mead, although after one batch exploded, he was banned from the kitchen
• He was the DJ at Rice for a weekly 60s music show
• For decades, his Balloon Launch Team sent balloons to the edge of space.  He gave many workshops and wrote articles about launching balloons.  He was the balloon advisor and mentor to classes at UT, Texas A&M, and HISD's magnet school for engineering
• He was the liaison for SAREX, the program which allowed students to speak to orbiting astronauts
• He collected WWII military radios
• He hunted and fished, not always successfully
• He liked science fiction, Ancient Aliens, and How Things are Made, and described himself as a Senior Ancient Astronaut Theorist
• He volunteered at local breweries
• He was a fitness buff, bicycling many miles each week, becoming a fixture around the neighborhood

He liked oddities and the unusual.  His favorite movie was The Magic Christian.  Recently, prompted by news of a celebrity breakup,  he told Heather, "You don't have to worry about me.  I don't care about the beautiful princess.  I'm more interested in the talking frog."

But ultimately, his life ended when the scar tissue left from the feeding tube he had during his first bout with cancer led to a tumor in his esophagus.

Andy loved to go on cruises.  As he packed before each one, he would say, "All I really need is a tux and a swimsuit."  So Andy will be buried wearing his cruise tux, Carnival swimsuit, his beer socks, and comfortable shoes.

He is survived by his mother, Ruth Ann MacAllister, his high-school sweetheart and wife of 45 years, Heather, his brother Craig MacAllister and wife Diane, sons Collin MacAllister and wife Robin, Brett MacAllister and wife Daniela, and grandchildren Gareth MacAllister, Maximiliano MacAllister, and Penelope MacAllister.