William E. Dryer

William Eugene Dryer (Bill) was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on January 23, 1928, to Ermal Lavone Robbins and John Marshall Dryer.  He passed away November 4, 2017, into the arms of his Savior, Jesus Christ.  He was preceded in death by his parents.  William is survived by his loving wife of 63 years, Patricia Margaret O’Nan Dryer, his sister Billie L. Litton, of Blackwater, Missouri, his son, Paul S. Dryer and wife Lisa of DeSoto, and his three daughters, Joyce E. Kelly of Dallas, Sarah E. Welch and husband John of Richardson, and Anne E. Regan and husband Peter of Dallas, seven grandchildren, Susan M. Hernandez of Cleveland, Ohio, William J. Hernandez and wife Jessica of Brooklyn, New York, Allison N. Barger and husband Andy, of Austin, Texas, Katie M. Dryer, of Dallas, Haley M. Welch, of Richardson, Natalie C. Regan, of Dallas, Kevin J. Regan of Dallas, and great grandchild, Brooks P. Barger, of Austin, Texas.  Bill attended Male High School, Louisville, Kentucky.  He served two tours as a United States Marine and was a dedicated volunteer in the Marine Corps League.  Bill graduated from the University of Louisville, Louisville, Kentucky, in 1958, with a B.S. in Physics, and a Minor in Mathematics.  He was the first night school graduate in the history of the university.  He started his professional career at General Electric in Louisville, Kentucky, in the major appliance division, dryer department.  He began his aerospace/astrospace career at Boeing Corporation as an Associate Research Engineer.  From there he moved to LTV Corporation, later Lockheed Martin, in Grand Prairie, Texas, as the Lead Instrumentation Systems Engineer in the pioneering of the space program.  He worked on the Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle projects.  He was instrumental in the design of the Manned Maneuvering Unit (the MMU), Gemini 12.  He was lead engineer on the Apollo Environmental Control Systems for the command and lunar excursion modules.  He was also instrumental in lunar surface camera placement for all Apollo lunar missions.  Some of his hardware remains on the lunar surface and is on display in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.  He assisted in the development of instrumentation and data acquisition requirements for testing the Apollo A7A spacesuit.  He retired from Lockheed Martin as a Telemetry Engineer on special analysis and numerous other aerospace and astrospace projects. William was known as Bill, Daddy, Fahver, Fafoos, and Fafa.  He will be remembered for his goofy sense of humor and enduring nicknames for his family.  His hobbies included radio controlled airplanes, gliders, kites, scuba diving, fishing, shooting, gun collecting, and bird watching.  Because of his love of science, he enjoyed drinking his beverages out of a graduated beaker.  Bill and Pat thoroughly enjoyed Kentucky basketball, the Dallas Cowboys, and the Texas Rangers. He was a faithful and devoted husband and exemplary father.  We loved him and our time together.  He will be deeply missed and remembered always. William Dryer will be laid to rest in a small private family ceremony at Little Bethel Memorial Park in Duncanville, Texas on Friday, November 10.  In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to www.mclfoundation.org