CHARLES HECKELMOSER, TITUSVILLE

Charles John Heckelmoser, Jr., 76, passed away Friday, May 16, 2008, in Leavenworth, Kansas. Born in Cleveland, Ohio on November 5, 1931, Chuck grew up in Cleveland. At age 17, he met Jean, the love of his life. Charles served in the Navy from 1951 to 1955.

In 1958 Chuck became one of the original employees of NASA which eventually lead him and his family to Titusville, FL in 1960. He worked in manned space flight programs, from Project Mercury to the Space Shuttle, until his retirement in 1988.

He enjoyed volunteering for Habitat for Humanity and Nehemiah Neighbors. In his personal life he has selflessly helped those of us that needed help. He was an avid model Airplane builder and flew Radio Control planes with the Moon Port Modelers. He loved to watch his creations take to the sky.

In their retirement years, Chuck and Jean traveled all over and enjoyed being members of the Lunar Rovers Good Sam camping club.

Charles is survived by his loving wife of 55 years, Jean; sister Jane (Raymond) Ernest of Chargin Falls, OH; mother- in-law Marie Whitehair of Titusville,FL; brother-in-law Charles (Rita) Whitehair of Berea, OH; son David (Donna) Heckelmoser; daughters Sandra (Charles) Warren of Orlando, FL and Amy (Terry) Lober of Leavenworth, KS; and six grandchildren. Charles was a Charter Member of IRC United Methodist Church in Titusville, FL.

Memorial services will be held at 1 p.m., Saturday, June 7th, at the Indian River City United Methodist Church. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to IRC United Methodist Church.