Harry I. HORII

1928 - 2022

August 10, 1928 - April 28, 2022 Harry "Eats" Horii passed away of natural causes on April 28, he was 93. Born in 1928 in Redondo Beach, California, he was the seventh of eight children born to Rikimatsu and Konobu Horii from Hiroshima, Japan.
In 1942 his family was ordered to relocate to the Gila River Internment Camp in Arizona. After World War II ended (and back in California), he graduated from Redondo Union High School. In 1949 he married Chita Iwamoto (they had met while in camp). The newlyweds moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he received a BS in Electrical Engineering from Wayne State University.
The couple returned to Los Angeles in 1954, when he was offered a position at North American Aviation (later Rockwell). This was the beginning of a highly decorated forty year career in the American Manned Space Programs, including all the Apollo flights and the Space Shuttle Orbiter programs. As an engineering specialist, a supervisor, and eventually heading a team of 400 engineers in the Avionics Systems Department, he received many company and NASA awards - including Rockwell's highest honor in 1971, the President's Space Division Award, and in 1990, NASA's Distinguished Public Service Medal (the highest award given to a non-government employee). He was an avid fisherman, who enjoyed golfing and photography.
He was there when anyone needed DIY building wiring, or any electrical repairs. In early 2018 his beloved wife of 68 years died, and in 2021 his younger brother Robert Horii passed. He is survived by his older sister Louise Kawamoto (105) and his son David, along with many nieces and nephews.