- George William Maybee, 85, passed away peacefully on Sunday, January 8, 2017 at his home in Harvest, AL.
George is survived by his wife, Madalyn Maybee of Huntsville; son, Mark W. Maybee of Huntsville; daughters, Betsy M. Jarrett of Huntsville, Suzanne M. Sons of Madison, and Jennifer M. Kilpatrick of Decatur; sister, Lorna Maybee Tillson of Oregon; 7 grandchildren; and 10 great grandchildren
George William Maybee was born in Kent, Washington, and as a young man joined the U.S. Navy. He ventured to Huntsville, AL in 1964, where he became a key player in the advancement and development of the U.S Space program. George was a member of the Huntsville aerospace engineering community where he worked on numerous NASA programs, including the Apollo Lunar Rover, which was essential to exploration of the moon's surface; Skylab, the world's first manned space station; and Spacelab, the first manned scientific lab in space. A graduate of the University of Washington with a B.A. in Engineering Physics, he was a senior member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and made numerous contributions to events and publications. George joined McDonnell Douglas in 1982, participating in mission control operations for Spacelabs 1, 2, and 3. He managed projects for UAH Consortium for materials in space and led the payload integration team for Consort 1, the first micro-gravity payload launched by a commercial licensed rocket in the U.S. Additionally, he managed various space technology projects including two Sounding rockets and a Shuttle mission carrying new technology experiments developed under his leadership.
Upon retirement, George devoted himself to his passions for music, writing, love of nature, family, and exploring the great west where he was raised and cherished immensely! He had three books published and wrote many songs, poems and short stories. He was a brilliant man yet loved the simple things in life and has shared so much with so many. He was nicknamed by friends as Alabama Bill and by family as Father of the Forest! He was a devoted father and husband and his greatest joy was having his family gathered sharing fun, food, laughter & good times. He will be greatly missed and his legacy will live on for generations to come!
|
1931 - 2022 (91 years)
