Obituaries : Albert W. LaChasse; Real Estate Agent

Albert W. LaChasse, a retired Glendale real estate agent whose experiences as a prisoner of war during World War II won him both the Purple Heart and a role in the film “Stalag 17,” has died. He was 77.

A longtime Glendale resident, LaChasse died Saturday of a heart attack while vacationing in Hawaii, said his son, Dean LaChasse of Glendale.

It was on Oct. 9, 1942, that 2nd Lt. LaChasse was forced to parachute from his B-17 bomber--the Snoozy II--when it was attacked over France on its maiden mission.

“I knew we had to get out,” he once said of the doomed flight. “The whole world was shooting at us, the ship was on fire and there was death on board. I jumped.”

Captured a month later by German soldiers in occupied France, LaChasse was eventually sent to Stalag Luft III in Sagen, Germany, where he remained captive until April 29, 1945, when the prison camp was liberated by Gen. George Patton and his troops.

Sought out as technical adviser for the 1953 film “Stalag 17,” LaChasse was given a small role alongside Oscar-winner William Holden as a fellow prisoner of war.

Following the war, he sold cars for a short time and eventually became a real estate agent with his own company, LaChasse Realty. He retired in the 1980s, his son said.

In 1992, the German pilot who had shot down LaChasse’s plane traveled to Glendale to meet his former enemy for an emotional reunion. The encounter had been arranged with the help of a Belgian journalist and historian who had witnessed the plane crash as a teen-ager and later began researching the event for a book.

Born Jan. 22, 1917, in St. Louis, LaChasse came to California with his family in 1921, settling in Glendale. After attending Glendale College and a stint in the Marine Corps, LaChasse joined the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1942.

In addition to his son Dean, LaChasse is survived by his wife of 47 years, Dorothy (Dodo) LaChasse; three more sons, Scott LaChasse of Newhall, Bill LaChasse of Tujunga and Gary LaChasse of Gardnerville, Nev.; and four grandchildren.

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A funeral is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Church of the Hills at Forest Lawn’s Hollywood Hills cemetery, 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles. A graveside service will follow. Forest Lawn Mortuary is handling the arrangements.

In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made in LaChasse’s name to the YWCA of Glendale or to the American Heart Assn.