Mr. Galdino “Dino” Salvador passed away on 4-24-18 at the age of 88. He is survived by 3 children, Lincoln Salvador (spouse Diana and daughter Whitney) of Satellite Beach, FL; Costante Salvador (spouse Sarah, son Zachary and daughter Marisa) of Palm Beach Gardens, FL; and Layne Salvador (spouse Bruce Wallace) of Huntsville, AL. Also surviving is a younger sister Jean Osman, married to William Osman. They have 3 children, Barbara, Debbie and Richard. All reside in the Detroit suburbs of Allen Park and Dearborn.
Dino’s beloved wife of 57 years – Eve Salvador (formerly Eva Lou Blackburn of New Hope, AL) passed away March 26, 2016.
Dino was born in Detroit, MI on June 3rd, 1929. He was born of Italian immigrant parents. His father, Costante came from Faldalto Alto, Treviso, Italy. He graduated from the University of Milan and immigrated to the U.S. in 1926, as a sculptor. He would enjoy an accomplished career as a tool and die maker in the automotive industry. His mother, (formerly Angela Dorigo), from the Po Valley in Italy, was a home maker.
Dino grew up in Melvindale, MI, a suburb of Detroit, graduated from high school in February 1947 as president of the senior class. Growing up was enjoyable, and he played all the available sports such as football, baseball, soccer, hockey, etc. His father taught him to fish both in the summer, and winter ice fishing on Lake Erie. In his youth he worked at jobs such as pulling weeds for 10 cents an hour on a farm; delivering papers; and working in a grocery store for $5 per day. He worked in a steel foundry as a laborer. The physically demanding, hot and dirty job motivated him to go to college.
He attended nearby Wayne State University and graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering in 1952. Later in his career he became a Registered Professional Engineer. He was a member of the Engineering Society of Detroit and held various chairmanships and memberships in technical and civic organizations.
He had a distinguished 38 year career in engineering/technical/manufacturing/defense fields, with increasing responsibility and position, culminating as a vice president of a major US corporation.
Dino was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force; served 6 months active duty, then transferred to the Air Force Reserve, ultimately receiving an honorable discharge.
He joined the Chrysler Corporation Space Division in 1952 and his first job was an engineer on jet engine development. He transferred to Huntsville, AL in the mid-50s to work on the Redstone Missile with the Werner Von Braun German rocket team. This was the early beginning of the US Space Program.
In late 1958 he was a manager of the deployment of the Redstone Missile System to Mainz, Germany. After 18 months in Germany, he was transferred to Ft Sill in Lawton, Oklahoma for about 2 years with the Redstone Missile; then to the Michoud plant near New Orleans, LA for about 2 years for early Apollo program development. Two summers were spent at the White Sands Missile Test Range in New Mexico.
In 1964 he was transferred to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. He spent 10 years at the Kennedy Space Center working on the boosters for the Apollo/Saturn program that landed men on the moon; and the Apollo/Soyuz program which was a combined orbital program with the then United Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR).
In 1975 he established a commercial electronics and wire manufacturing capability for automotive use, and served as plant manager from 1975 to 1981. In 1978 he built, tooled up, and launched a sister plant in Juarez, Mexico, enhancing the corporate wire manufacturing capability.
In 1981 he joined the U.S. Army M1 Abrams battle tank program. In 1982 he was responsible for the launch of the M1 Abrams tank program at the Detroit Army Tank Plant. Subsequently he was appointed to the position of M1 Abrams tank Program Manager where he successfully completed the M1 tank development through Type Classification and Production.
Dino was then appointed Plant Manager of the Detroit Arsenal Tank Plant in May 1985, where he led a work force of 2000 personnel in production of the U.S. Army M60 and M1 Abrams tanks. In Sep 1986 he was appointed Plant Manager of the Lima, OH Army Tank Plant where he led a work force of 3,600 personnel in the total production of the U.S. Army M1 Abrams.
In Nov 1989 Dino was elevated to the office of Vice President – United Kingdom Programs, to represent General Dynamics Land Systems Division on the Main Battle Tank Chieftain Replacement Program in London, England.
In the early 90’s he was in charge of building, tooling and launching a Superconducting Super Collider Magnet Plant in Hammond, LA; a $70 million project.
Dino retired in 1994 in Mandeville, LA, across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans, and remained there until 2010 when he and Eve moved to Huntsville, AL to be near family. They were active members at Our Lady Queen of the Universe Catholic Church, where the funeral will be held Friday April 27th at 1:00 pm.
Dino lived his life as devout Catholic and his strong faith was an inspiration to those around him.
He loved the outdoors, hunting, fishing and golf. He was a loving and wonderful father and will be greatly missed.
