- Date Of Birth: January 7, 1936
- Date Of Death: February 21, 2017
- State: Florida
John Moye, born January 7, 1936 in McAdoo, PA, passed away peacefully in his Cocoa Beach home on February 21, 2017. His devoted wife of 56 years, Eileen, cared for him until the end. He is survived by her, his three children, Chris, Eileen and Craig and his grandchildren, Jennifer, Lindsay, Alex, Katerina, Kendall and Addison.
His father came to this country from Poland via Ellis Island in 1900 where the family name was changed to Moye. John was born in Pennsylvania “coal country, third from the youngest in a family of 13 children. His parents were faithful Catholics and he carried that faith throughout his life. With little opportunity in his home town, he enlisted in the Air Force at age 17 and the discipline he learned there shaped the rest of his life. It was a transformative experience in many ways and allowed him to utilize the GI Bill upon discharge to get an electrical engineering degree at the Newark College of Engineering. His first job was as a supervisor at Western Electric in Virginia.
It was the space challenge issued by President Kennedy that really captured his imagination and he spent much of his career in the newly formed NASA. He was an engineer/physicist at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland working with lasers, digital circuitry, quantum devices and built the first system to capture photographs of laser returns from a satellite – in the 1960s! He was instrumental in the development of both the Spacelab, a modular laboratory flown within the Space Shuttle and then the analytical studies to determine the viability of the Space Station. He had many publications and earned many awards, including the coveted Silver Snoopy Award presented personally by astronauts as recognition of outstanding achievement. It was his work with the Spacelab and Shuttle programs that led him to the “space coast” and his retirement years in Cocoa Beach.
Anyone that knew him recognized that his inner drive never let him sit still which led him to get a Master’s in Engineering Administration from George Washington University. At the same time, he taught the electrical code in evening classes at Montgomery College. He always emphasized the importance of having a strong understanding of technology and having a science-based degree – a passion which has been passed on to his children and then grandchildren.
At the same time that he held down two jobs and earned a master’s degree, he was a devoted father to three children, instilling a strong work ethic and his values of honesty, integrity and generosity to those less fortunate in them. He was an avid gardener and filled the backyard with vegetables, fruit and a mini-orchard – providing lots of fresh food, gardening experience and canning opportunities for his wife and children. Long before Tim Allen, he was the ultimate “toolman” and taught his children how to use those tools in a meaningful way – aka chores. But the beach was always his favorite destination – from building sand castles and jumping waves to walking the beach and finally, just watching the waves roll in.
After he retired from NASA, his endless drive propelled him to the next big space and technology challenge – the Strategic Defense Initiative (“Star Wars”). As if by destiny, he moved back to Virginia and the comfort of working with the military again at the Pentagon. As a result, he was privy to some of the most sophisticated defense technology and worked internationally with some of our closest allies in Europe and made many trips to Israel.
John had a deep faith, a strong will and always put his family before himself.
