The cause of death was brain cancer, said Howard Benedict, executive director of the Mercury Seven Foundation. [2]:271[12]:450451, While grounded, Slayton took several measures to attempt to be restored to flight status, including regularly exercising, taking vitamins, quitting cigarette smoking and coffee and reducing his consumption of alcoholic beverages. They eventually divorced, and Slayton later married Bobbie Belle Jones (1945-2010) in 1983. The joint mission symbolized a passing thaw in American-Soviet relations. Marjorie. [2]:4049, In 1952, Slayton transferred to active duty Air Force from the Air National Guard. Donald Kent " Deke " Slayton (March 1, 1924 - June 13, 1993) was a United States Air Force pilot, aeronautical engineer, and test pilot who was selected as one of the original NASA Mercury Seven astronauts. With the outbreak of war in Korea in 1951, he was recalled to duty as a fighter pilot. Family And I know how important her marriage is to her, and that was something that was a huge component of Bettys character., Grissoms sense of style was a bit more provincial than the other wives, yet still unique. [2]:104105,110 In early 1962, NASA Administrator James Webb opened an investigation into Slayton's atrial fibrillation. This space highway guided the crippled ship back to planet Earth, where people from all continents were bonded in support of these three explorers-in-peril. In 1987, the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association created an annual award in her honor. We wanted her to feel quiet and a little bit of a church mouse, [so] we went with pastels and girly silhouettes, he says. was one of the original National Aeronautics and Space Administration After three months of primary training, Slayton moved to Waco, Texas, for basic flight training, where he flew the BT-13 Valiant. [19] Additionally, he received the Collier Trophy, the Gen. Billy Mitchell Award, and the AIAA Haley Astronautics Award for 1978. [2]:308,312 He married Bobbie Belle Jones (19452010), who also worked at NASA, in October 1983, and they remained married until his death. There was always a lot of Jell-O, casseroles on the table. This treatment was successful, but concerned that taking medication would still disqualify him from solo flying, Slayton stopped taking it against doctors orders. It was about survival.. But he was also naturally laconic and presented a stern-faced image in public to mask his impatience with just about anything that did not involve flying. [2]:5565, In January 1959, Slayton was selected as one of the candidates for NASA's Project Mercury, the first U.S. crewed space flight program. They were 80 percent of the way to their destination on April 13, 1970, when all of us heard a rather large bang, Lovell later said. She passed away in 1989. [10][2]:133140[11] Slayton continued to be responsible for making crew assignments, and determined the astronauts that would fly on the Gemini and Apollo missions. In March 1972, he was medically cleared to fly and was the docking module pilot of the 1975 ApolloSoyuz Test Project (ASTP). The funeral service will follow in the chapel at 11:30 with Brother Jimmy Jackson officiating. Awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal his fourth of 5. "I just learned to cope with it," he said years later. "[2]:58, In 1992, Slayton was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor. He was chief of the NASA Turducken its not: Crown roast of frankfurters. They made their home in Slayton, and to this union a daughter, Sheila was born. The mission, with astronauts Jim Lovell, Fred Haise and Jack Swigert, was scheduled to go to the moon. [32] The device is intended for low-earth orbit service (LEO).[33]. Thanks for contacting us. Iris Klein. (October 8, 1983 - June 13, 1993) (his death), (May 15, 1955 - July 11, 1983) (divorced, 1 child), View agent, publicist, legal and company contact details on IMDbPro. They divorced in 1983, at age 62. Online. During hospitalization, a lesion was discovered on Slayton's lung and removed. selected to the Apollo/Soyuz mission. He later worked on the Skylab and space shuttle projects before leaving NASA in 1985. They celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary in November. [9] After a decade of seeing doctors around the world,[13] in 1971 Slayton was examined at the Mayo Clinic after a long period without heart fibrillation, and was determined to not have a coronary condition. She married Deke on May 18, 1955. Slayton began flight training in Vernon, Texas, where he trained on the Fairchild PT-19, the PT-17 Stearman, and the AT-6 Texan. To preserve these articles as they originally appeared, The Times does not alter, edit or update them. A Lighter Outlook, Asked before one shuttle mission what the astronauts would be doing between then and the launching, a question that used to elicit a sober listing of flight plans to be studied and so forth, Mr. Slayton replied, "I think they'll be goofing off.". In reality, it took an effort by all four flight directors and dozens of flight controllers to diagnose the problem and devise a way to bring Apollo 13 back safely, through 250,000 miles of space. In his NASA oral history, Mr. Lunney looked back on the dramatic rescue of Apollo 13 as the best piece of operations work I ever did or could hope to do., We built a quarter-million mile space highway, he added, paved by one decision, one choice, and one innovation at a time repeated constantly over almost four days to bring the crew safely home. In real life, theres a whole thing about her wearing the pearls and white shoes we used that as her signature thing, Daman says. The Cygnus CRS Orb-3 mission, which was lost when the Antares rocket exploded during its launch, was named the S.S. Deke Slayton. Please accept Echovita's sincere condolences. For Grissom, a Midwesterner who worked evenings at the telephone company to put her husband through engineering school, Savage wrote the part with Swisher in mind. Marjorie "Marge" Slayton ne Lunney was the wife of NASA Mercury W astronaut and Chief of Astronaut Office, Deke Slayton. If theres a Charlotte in this group of gal pals, its perfect Navy wife Jo, who rocked twin sets and headbands like a preppy pro. IMPORTANT PRIVACY NOTICE & DISCLAIMER: YOU HAVE A RESPONSIBILITY TO USE CAUTION WHEN DISTRIBUTING PRIVATE INFORMATION. Burial will be in Huntsville Memory Gardens.Full obituary to follow. Slayton, along with Brand and Kubasov, won the FAI Yuri Gagarin Gold Medal in 1976. After graduating in December 1955, he became a test pilot at the Flight Test Center at Edwards Air Force Base, California. Marjorie "Marge" Slayton ne Lunney was the wife of NASA MercuryW astronaut and Chief of Astronaut Office, Deke Slayton. . League City, Galveston, Texas, United States, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:X9SW-M12, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VYFV-RV3, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VY3S-S2P, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:JVL6-RYS, https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J1XR-5PJ, 28 degrees from Pope Saint John Paul II Wojtyla, 25 degrees from Pope Urban VIII Barberini, 45 degrees from Pope Pius VII Chiaramonti, 31 degrees from Pope Victor II Dollnstein-Hirschberg, 25 degrees from Blessed Pope Innocent XI Odescalchi, 28 degrees from Pope Benedict XIII Orsini, Distinguished Flying Cross (United States). She was called "the Queen" by other astronaut wives. but tragedy struck. Back then, people didnt throw away clothing, and I feel like Marge might have peaked in the late 40s, Daman says. After completing his education at Air Command and Staff School, he was assigned as a maintenance inspector at Twelfth Air Force Headquarters in Wiesbaden Army Airfield, West Germany. She married Deke on May 18, 1955. Categories: Notables | United States of America, Notables | United States Air Force | NASA Astronauts | Apollo-Soyuz Astronauts | Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) | NASA Distinguished Service Medal | NASA Exceptional Service Medal | Air Medal | United States Astronaut Hall of Fame, WIKITREE HOME | ABOUT | G2G FORUM | HELP | SEARCH. Annie was the envy of the other wives for her picture-perfect marriage to John Glenn, who was very protective of the timid Annie because of her stutter which Daman reflected in Parsons fashions. Laughlin Service Funeral Home & Crematory - Huntsville. Awarded the NASA Distinguished Service Medal, his first of 5. Donald Slayton. Glynn Stephen Lunney was born Nov. 27, 1936, in Old Forge, Pa. His father was a coal miner and welder, his mother a homemaker. Gary Lee Brinks. Five of the original seven astronauts survive. (Photo by NASA/PhotoQuest/Getty Images) View of Jo Schirra (nee Fraser, 1924 - 2015) (left) and Marjorie Slayton (nee Lunney, 1921 - 1989) as they view a television transmission (from NASA's Apollo 7 . September 18, 2022 (92 years old) View obituary. Marjorie J. Slayton 1912 Wisconsin Marjorie J. Slayton, born 1912 Following the. Slayton began multi-engine training on the Beechcraft AT-10, Cessna AT-12, and the Curtis AT-9. They were kind of like the first Real Housewives, says series costume designer Eric Daman. Donald is 28 degrees from Pope Saint John Paul II Wojtyla, 25 degrees from Pope Urban VIII Barberini, 23 degrees from Pope Alexander VI Borgia, 45 degrees from Pope Pius VII Chiaramonti, 33 degrees from Pope John XI di Roma, 31 degrees from Pope Victor II Dollnstein-Hirschberg, 31 degrees from Pope St Leo IX Egisheim, 23 degrees from Pope Leo X Medici, 25 degrees from Blessed Pope Innocent XI Odescalchi, 28 degrees from Pope Benedict XIII Orsini, 25 degrees from Pope Pius II Piccolomini and 21 degrees from Fiona McMichael on our single family tree. During his Air Force career, he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal. Gordon passed away on October 25, 2003. October 26, 2022 (75 years old) View obituary. From a young age, he worked on the farm to raise sheep and cows, and grow tobacco. This is a digitized version of an article from The Timess print archive, before the start of online publication in 1996. Deke Slayton (husband) John Flannigan (ex-husband), Trudy Cooper Annie Glenn Betty Grissom Louise Shepard Rene CarpenterJo Schirra. While working on the Space Shuttle, he also assisted in developing the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft. After two years at the University of Scranton in Pennsylvania, Mr. Lunney transferred to the University of Detroit (now the University of Detroit Mercy), where he studied engineering and took part in a cooperative training program with a forerunner of NASA. Of the first astronauts, Mr. Slayton, known to everyone as Deke, made the least immediate impression on a public that for a time could not read or hear or see enough of these newly minted space celebrities. In 1970 his palpitations became more frequent and he started taking experimental daily doses of quinidine, a crystalline alkaloid. Grief researchers say holding that missing funeral service, even a year or more later, can still help us heal. Receive obituaries from the city or cities of your choice. All eyes were on them, and they unwittingly became fashion icons and scions of their social set., The 10-episode miniseries spans 1959 to 1971, a decade-plus retold through the aid of NASA footage, Life magazine profiles and writer Lily Koppels 2013 oral history The Astronaut Wives Club: A True Story, on which the series is based. The best poems for funerals, memorial services., and cards. Login to find your connection. Authorize the publication of the original written obituary with the accompanying photo. [1][2]:310323, After his retirement from NASA, Slayton served as president of Space Services Inc., a Houston-based company earlier founded to develop rockets for small commercial payloads. Trenton Union County Warren Wayne Obituaries can vary in the amount of information they contain, but many of them are genealogical goldmines, including information such as: names, dates, place of birth and death, marriage information, and family relationships. If you know of an upcoming event for Marjorie J. Slayton, please add one. Older than the other wives, she was nicknamed "Mother Marge,". Date of birth Copyright 2023 Echovita Inc. All rights reserved. First seen [29][30] The Cygnus CRS Orb-4 Orbital ATK space vehicle was named the S.S. Deke Slayton II and launched to the International Space Station on December 6, 2015, on an Atlas V rocket.