John Edwin Walsh

WALSH - John Edwin Walsh, "Jack" 96, Born August 2, 1914 in Chicago Illinois, died March 15, 2011 in Arcadia, California. He was a Pasadena resident since 1975. He is survived by Lyn, his wife of 33 years; a niece; 3 nephews; & great nieces & nephews. He served in the Navy during WWII, on an aircraft carrier in the Pacific. Afterwards he worked overseas for many years specializing in radar sites. In 1962 he started work in the fledgling Space Program in Houston, TX where he specialized in navigation & propulsion. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom twice, once in 1955 for getting a radar site back on line after a typhoon & also as a team member at the Houston Space center, that rescued the Apollo 13 astronauts in 1970. The citation includes the words " transforming potential tragedy into one of the most dramatic rescues of all time". He was transferred to the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, CA in 1975, & worked as a control chief handling data for the Deep Space Network. He was laid off in 1986. He did computer & financial work at home until about 4 years ago. He succumbed to diabetes, dementia & respiratory problems. A big thank you to his caring doctors, & all the great people who looked after him at Country Villa Huntington Drive, in Arcadia, CA.