Dr. Aleksandar Svager

Dr. Aleksandar Svager

August 10, 1931 - October 03, 2024

Dr. Aleksandar Svager

August 10, 1931 - October 03, 2024

Obituary

Aleksandar Svager, aged 93, died of natural causes on Tuesday, October 3, 2024, in Oakwood, Ohio. 

He is preceded in death by his parents Greta Dohan Svager and Oskar T. Svager and his wife, Thyrsa Frazier Svager. He is survived by relatives in San Paolo, Brazil and many friends in the Wilberforce Xenia Community.

Aleksandar was born in what was then Sarajevo, Yugoslavia on August 10, 1931.

 In 1941, Aleksandar and his parents escaped from Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia, only hours before they were to be transported to Auschwitz but were instead placed in a prisoner of war camp in Italy. 

Innately Aleksandar knew the meaning of the Lovelace line: “Stone walls do not a prison make nor iron bars, a cage.”

He enjoyed running the streets surrounding the Italian prison camps and made friends of bakers and other shopkeepers. They were charmed by his intelligent conversation and straightforward demeanor. They engaged Aleksandar to be their money changer.

His earnest willingness to do the job carefully, brought their appreciation and trust. Moreover, his being a high spirited 11-year-old avoided the attention of the police. The shopkeepers rewarded him with coins and roasted chicken and goose, which he took to his parents. Throughout his life, he demonstrated an appreciation of money for showing generosity and kindness.

When at last the war was over, the family returned to Yugoslavia, where he completed high school level studies. Thereafter, he attended the Nuclear Institute of Zagreb where he completed undergraduate courses and remained for postgraduate studies. After two years at the Nuclear Institute, the University of Sarajevo awarded him a graduate teaching fellowship which allowed him to teach while completing his postgraduate program. 

But Yugoslavia, then under communist control was a very different place. Aleksandar found the Yugoslavian government control burdensome and wanted to go to the United States. However, the governing body was particularly determined to keep its top scientists and technologists from leaving its confines. For this reason, Aleksandar was fearful of seeking asylum in the United States which was likely to place his family and former professors in danger. As a relative safe alternative, he applied for and received a student visa through the Institute for International Education which allowed him to study in a foreign university. Thus in 1960, Aleksandar became a teaching assistant in the Texas Christian University physics department, where he received one more degree a Master of Arts, moreover he met wonderful colleagues and made many friends. 

When the Yugoslavian government asked him to return, he refused but chose to seek faculty positions in the United States. By an unexpected instance of timing, a Master of Arts in computer science was the most valuable credential for seeking a college professor’s position. Many, many universities were beginning to establish their first computer science departments. Aleksandar chose Central State University because it offered him the greatest autonomy and allowed him to select his own staff. In 1964, Aleksandar became professor of physics and chairperson of Central State University’s first computer science department and there he met Thyrsa Frazier, chairperson of the Mathematics Department. The couple worked together to encourage African American students to major in computer science. On commencement day in 1968, Aleksandar Svager married Thyrsa Frazier. 

Services will be held on Wednesday, October 9, 2024, at noon at Temple Israel, 130 Riverside Drive, Dayton, Ohio 45405. Internment will immediately follow at Massie Cemetery in Cedarville Township.

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