Dec 08 2016

In Memoriam: John Glenn (July 21, 1921 – December 8, 2016)

Another legend has passed. Astronaut, the last of the Mercury 7, and former Senator John Glenn died this afternoon at Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus, Ohio. This is just a portion of the tribute to Sen. Glenn’s life from The Columbus Dispatch:

Glenn lived a Ripley’s Believe It or Not! life. As a Marine Corps pilot, he broke the transcontinental flight speed record before being the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962 and, 36 years later at age 77 in 1998, becoming the oldest man in space as a member of the seven-astronaut crew of the shuttle Discovery.

He made that flight in his 24th and final year in the U.S. Senate, from whence he launched a short-lived bid for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984. Along the way, Glenn became moderately wealthy from an early investment in Holiday Inns near Disney World and a stint as president of Royal Crown International.

In one of his last public appearances, Glenn, with Annie by his side, sat in the Port Columbus airport terminal on June 28 as officials renamed it in his honor — the John Glenn Columbus International Airport.

Sen. Glenn is survived by his wife of 73 years, Annie, his two children, Carolyn Ann and John David, and two grandchildren. He will lie in state at the Ohio State House followed by a public memorial service at Ohio University. He will be interred at Arlington National Cemetery in a private service. The dates and times to be announced.

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