Mr. Votaw was born on August 16, 1925 in Chester, Pennsylvania, in a Quaker family. After high school, he attended Deep Springs College, in Deep Springs, California, where he also worked as a bartender, to the amusement of his brother considering their Quaker background. Mr. Votaw’s brother recalled that Albert was known in school to be extraordinarily gifted, a high achiever who was very universal in his interests. Mr. Votaw’s second wife remembered him as a “very big man – over 6’2” tall.” He was always fun, she said, and “had something of Errol Flynn in him.”

Mr. Votaw was drafted to fight in World War II, but, as a Quaker, he was a conscientious objector and hence volunteered as a “study subject” for various medical studies at Yale University. Following the end of World War II, Mr. Votaw earned an M.A. in Economics and Anthropology from the University of Chicago. After a stint as a reporter, he changed careers and became involved housing and urban development; he worked both in the United States and abroad, living in such countries as Tunisia, the Ivory Coast, and Thailand. Beginning with his stay in the Ivory Coast, Mr. Votaw became employed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

In January 1983, Mr. Votaw was assigned by USAID to a new posting in Beirut, where he was to help with a major reconstruction effort. To his spouse’s inquiry about the danger involved in living in Lebanon, Mr. Votaw responded: “how many housing officers do you know who have died in the line of fire?” Mr. Votaw arrived in Beirut eleven days before the bombing and was killed in the explosion. He was 57 years old at the time of his death.

Mr. Albert Votaw was one of 63 victims of the bombing of the American Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, which took place on April 18, 1983. At approximately 1:05 PM, a truck loaded with nearly 2,000 pounds of explosives careened through the driveway of the American embassy and crashed into the building. A massive explosion ripped through all seven levels of the embassy, sending debris flying hundreds of feet into the air and causing the burning building to collapse on itself. In addition to those who lost their lives, at least 120 people were injured. At the time, it was the deadliest attack on an American diplomatic mission since World War II. His current burial place is unknown.

Source of information: https://www.iranrights.org/memorial/story/33089/albert-n-votaw