Lloyd James Engman Sr.

ENGMAN SR. Lloyd James Engman, Sr. of Fairhope, Alabama passed away on May 3, 2012, at the age of 94. He died peacefully in his sleep at Montrose Bay Nursing Home where he had spent his last few months. Lloyd was born in Rathdrum, Idaho on March 28, 1918, and grew up in the Pacific Northwest. One of his first jobs was picking up rocks at the Grand Coulee Dam construction site for ten cents an hour when he was 16 years old. In World War II, he served as a motor machinist's mate in the U.S. Navy aboard the USS Grundy in the Pacific Theater. After the war, he attended college at North Carolina State University on the GI Bill, earning a degree in electrical engineering. In March of 1958, he went to work for the Army Ballistic Missile Agency in Huntsville, Alabama. The ABMA was the predecessor of NASA and when NASA was formed later that year, he moved to the new agency. There he worked on the Redstone, Jupiter C, Saturn I, Saturn IB, and Saturn 5 rockets, Skylab, and the Space Shuttle program. He retired from NASA in 1983. After retiring, he and his wife, Anne, moved from Decatur, Alabama to Lake Norman, North Carolina where they lived until 1998, when they relocated to Homestead Village in Fairhope, Alabama. In addition to building rockets, Lloyd built several houses from the ground up, made furniture, and could repair almost anything. He loved his family, cars, the outdoors, camping, hiking, backpacking in the Appalachian Mountains, any kind of dessert, and taking a nap whenever and wherever the feeling overcame him. He delighted three generations of his extended family with cribbage lessons and his delicious homemade ice cream. He and Anne enjoyed traveling and took many trips in the United States, and visited Canada, Australia, and Scotland. He had a positive outlook, a sharp mind, a dry sense of humor, and a big laugh. He is survived by Anne Bird Engman, his wife of 70 years; his son, Lloyd James Engman, Jr. of Fairhope, Alabama; daughters, Helen Wells Engman Kreuzer of Richland, Washington, Mary Anne Engman Connors of Fairhope, Alabama, Hannah Bird Engman Vaughan of The Woodlands, Texas; his sister, Eleanor Norton Hunnicutt, of Gail, Texas; his brother, John Gene Engman, of South Fort Meyers, Florida; 6 grandchildren, 3 great-grandchildren, 2 great great-grandchildren, many nieces, nephews, and a large extended family including 17 grand dogs and 4 great grand dogs. He lived a happy, healthy, fulfilling life for all of his 94 years, was much loved by his family and friends and will be greatly missed. A memorial service was held on May, 5 at Homestead Village and was presided over by his granddaughter, Mary Helen Connors. According to Lloyd's wishes, he was cremated and will be interred in the family plot at Thomas Cemetery in Qualla, North Carolina.