Achille Rene Van de Meulebroecke

(December 27, 1931 – June 28, 2015)

Achille Rene Van de Meulebroecke "Van", age 83 of Woodlands Road Alton, died at Massachusetts General Hospital after a brief illness.

Born December 27, 1931 in York County, ME son of Hubert and Blanche (Drapeau) Van de Meulebroecke lived his early years in Salmon Falls, NH and South Berwick, ME. Van worked summers at Howard Johnsons in Wells Beach, Me from high school through college. He attended the University of New Hampshire earning a BS in Civil Engineering and commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the US Army. Van served in Germany with the 293rd Combat Engineers and rose to the rank of 1st Lieutenant and served a Company A Commander. Van returned from Germany and started his 32 year career as a Highway Engineer working for the Bureau of Public Roads which became the Federal Highway Administration upon the formation of the Department of Transportation. Van's career had him traversing the US and residing in Oregon, Tennessee, Illinois, Virginia, Connecticut, New York, and Washington, DC. Van's career culminated with assignment overseeing operations in Saudi Arabia for the Department of Transportation as part of the Secretary's Office. Upon his retirement, Van returned to New Hampshire to reside on Lake Winnipesaukee. Van returned to the University of New Hampshire working as a graduate student advisor and with the Technology Transfer Group within the Engineering Department.

While working at Howard Johnsons, Van met Constance Ann Calcutt of Dover, NH a coworker there. They were married in Baumholder, Germany on September 9, 1955. In addition to his wife Constance, Van is survived by 4 children Brian Van De Meulebroecke of Falls Church, VA, Brad Van de Meulebroecke (Mary Kelly) of Doha, Qatar, Cathi Coates (Thomas) of Berlin, MD and Nancy Parker (Mitchell) of Ocean City, MD, a daughter in-law Jennifer Van de Meulebroecke of Erdenhiem, PA, 13 grandchildren and 2 great grandchildren. Van was preceded by his son Mark Van de Meulebroecke.

Services will be held at St Katharine Drexel Catholic Church on Tuesday July 7th at 11:00 am, in Alton. In Lieu of flowers please make donations to Safe Harbor, a program that provides ongoing grief support groups for children, teens, and their parents or caregivers. Safe Harbor, 1200 Old York Road, Abington, PA 19001.