Sam Davidson Romano

Sam Davidson Romano died Sunday, October 29, 2023 at the age of 92. He was a member of Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Vestavia Hills, Alabama for many years. He attended shades Cahaba High School in Homewood, Alabama, where he played varsity football for Coach O.P. (Piggy) Mitchell (an Alabama Coach’s Hall of Fame inductee); he graduated in 1949. Mr. Romano was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity and graduated from Alabama Polytechnic Institute, now Auburn University, in 1953 receiving a ROTC 2nd Lt. Commission in the U.S. Army Corp of engineers. He served two years on active duty from January 1954 to January 1956, leaving active duty as a 1st LT. One year was served on the island of Eluethera in the Bahamas with the 332nd Engineer Aviation Battalion building an air landing strip for the Air Force in support of radar stations strung out through the islands that were used to track army test rockets fired from Cape Carnival and later NASA rockers, such as the Saturn-V Moon Rocket, launched as part of NASA’s peaceful exploration of space. Engineer Aviation Battalions, at the time, were known as Special Category Army with Air Force (SWAWAF) units, and worked for the Air Force usually building air landing strips.

Mr. Romano’s first civilian job, following his army service, was an Industrial Engineer at the U.S Steel Fairfield facility outside of Birmingham, Alabama where he worked for 9 years. During this time he was one of five Industrial Engineers selected to be trained as a Main Frame Computer Programmer to develop computer systems for the industrial engineers, in addition to his other industrial engineer duties. Main frame computers were just beginning to be widely utilized by private industry.

In 1965 he went to work as a Lead Programmer/Analysts for Computer Sciences Corporation who, at the time, had a computer programming service support contract with NASA at the Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) in Huntsville, Alabama. Mr. Romano served a number of different NASA offices but spent most of his time as the lead analyst providing computer systems programming support to the NASA Apollo Saturn-V Moon Rocket, Engines Program Office, during the 1960’s. The Engines Program Office was responsible for managing the development, testing, and production of the 5 Saturn-V first state (S-1C), F-1 Engines and the 5 second stage (S-2), J-2 Engines plus the 1 third stage (S-4B), J-2 Engine. Rocketdyne was the contractor building the engines.

The Apollo man to the moon mission was originated and managed by Dr. Werner Von Braun, the German rocket scientist that developed the V-2 Rockets for Germany during World War II. These rockets caused severe damage to London, England and other cities during the war.

In the early 1970’s Mr. Romano found employment in his first U.S. Government Civil Service job, the U.S. Army SAFEGUARD Command, our nation’s first Anti-Ballistic Missile Defense System. He became a Section Chief Manager over a group of main frame computer programmers and analysts. This command was later closed down in the 1970’s during the SALT TALK cold war negotiations with the Russian government putting 400 employees out of work in the Huntsville headquarters building.

Mr. Romano then transferred to the Social Security Administration Bureau of Data Processing in Baltimore, Maryland, and later in 1974 transferring within the agency, to the Southeastern Program Service Center (PSC) in Birmingham, Alabama, his hometown. While in Birmingham he started the first computer programming service support group that the Social Security Administration had outside of the home office, Bureau of Data Processing staff in Baltimore. The Birmingham group was declared a national pilot project within the Social Security Administration and served the Birmingham Program Service Center (PSC) as well as the other 5 program service centers across the nation. The Birmingham Pilot was later declared a success and the five other program service centers were eventually staffed with programmers and analyst also.

For over 20 years Mr. Romano owned and operated Romano Insurance Agency, as a part time agent, with The Hartford Insurance group. He also brokered business with the Walsh Insurance Agency in Birmingham, Alabama.

He was an avid exerciser into his late years jogging, walking, lifting weights and climbing a rope. He credits his high school football coach Mitchell with encouraging him to climb a rope for exercise.

In retirement, after 15 years in private industry and 42 years in U.S. Government service, he began volunteering at the VA Hospital in Birmingham and also as an Emeritus Docent at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center Museum in Huntsville, Alabama where he toured visitors around NASA’s official museum.

Mr. Romano was preceded in death by his father, Sam Salvador Romano; his mother, Emily Davidson Romano; and by his uncle, Joe M. Romano. He is survived by his two sons, Sam Davidson Romano, Jr. and David Frederick Romano; two granddaughters, Lauren Romano Cecil (Austin) and Kristen Romano Grundhoefer (Kevin); his great grandson Sawyer Cecil; his daughter in law, Allison Romano; and by his wife, Patricia Harvey Romano.

Friends are cordially invited to visit with the family on Thursday, the 2nd of November, from 9:30 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. at Ridout’s Valley Chapel in Homewood. Funeral Services will commence at 11:00 a.m. at Ridout’s Valley Chapel with burial to follow at Alabama National Cemetery in Montevallo, Alabama. Services are under the direction of Ridout’s Valley Chapel (205-879-3401) in Homewood.

Fond memories and expressions of sympathy may be shared at www.ridoutsvalleychapel.com for the Romano family.