In Remembrance

Gene Hollier, 85, a long-time Clear Lake resident and indefatigable community volunteer, passed away on Sunday after a brief illness. That’s about the only passive thing that ever happened to Gene.

The retired Air Force pilot, diplomat, spy, and businessman is survived by his equally active significant other, partner in crime, and community stalwart Emmeline Dodd. He also leaves behind a sister, Kathleen Tritico and husband Guy; children, Debbie Hollier and husband John Skinner, Kurt Hollier and wife Melodie, Dennis Hollier and wife Dawn Southard, Former key NASA official, Arnold Aldrich passes away Vienna, Va., a former NASA associate administrator, director of the Space Shuttle Program and Lockheed Martin vice president, passed away on May 28, 2020 after a brief battle with cancer. He was 83.

Born in Arlington, Mass., on July 7, 1936, Arnold enjoyed a 35-year career at NASA spanning all mannedmission programs including Mercury, Gemini, Apollo, and Space Shuttle. He and Cathy Osoria and husband Bobby; grandchildren, Scott, Diana, Nick, Amy, Ashley, and Macy; and three great-grandchildren, Makayla, Brianna, and Nicky.

He was preceded in death by his parents Alfred Louis Hollier and Laurence dePerrodil Hollier; sisters Billie Guilbeau and Hazel Turnbull; brothers Ivan and Alfred Hollier.

Never one to sit still, Gene packed what seemed like three careers into his nearly 86 years. He was also an inveterate traveler, an amateur actor, an epicure, and a world-class raconteur.

After high school, the Port Arthur native studied math and engineering at Southwestern Louisiana Institute. Just two years in, though, the Korean War broke out and he enlisted in the Air Force where he would spend the next 20 years, after getting his wings as an F-100 pilot. But in 1961 his career as a pilot almost came to an end when his new Austin Healey was t-boned and totaled in England. Gene spent the next 15 months in a USAF hospital in Biloxi, Miss., where he had metal rods installed in his ankle and forearm, several vertabrae fused together, and a kneecap removed. For a while, it wasn’t clear if he would ever walk again, let alone fly an airplane.

When Gene was finally cleared to fly again, he shipped out to Vietnam, where he clocked in 178 combat missions and was awarded the Air Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, the Vietnam Service Medal with three bronze stars, the Air Force Combat Medal with one Oak Leaf Cluster, and assorted other commendations.

He capped off his Air Force career with two tours of duty as the assistant served as Skylab deputy program manager; Apollo Spacecraft Program office deputy manager during the Apollo Soyuz Test Project; and Orbiter project manager during

Arnold Aldrich development of Space Shuttles Discovery and Atlantis.

Following the Challenger accident, Arnold was appointed director of the Space Shuttle Program where he led recovery and return-to-flight efforts. He then served as NASA associate administrator for Aeronautics and Space Technology and, later for Space Systems Development. Arnold also led initiatives with Russia leading to the incorporation of the Russian Soyuz air attache to Thailand. He spent a year in Washington, where he became fluent in both common and royal Thai, and learned to read and write the complex language also studying in the Foreign Service School and learning a smattering of spy craft.

His official duties included meetings with Vice President Spiro Agnew, Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, and a near miss with President Nixon. Gene liked to say that, on his secret trip to China, Nixon dined on a t-bone from the Hollier freezer. Gene’s tour as an attache culminated with the King of Thailand awarding him the Order of the White Elephant, a form of knighthood.

After the Air Force, Gene spent the next eight years operating a security company and did a little acting on the side, appearing in 17 episodes of the TV series “Magnum PI” and a variety of minor roles in movies.

He retired in 1996 when he and Emmeline fell in love and formed the dynamic duo that has been making Clear Lake a better place ever since.

Gene threw himself into volunteer work, particularly the Houston Livestock Show & Rodeo -- joining the NASA Go Texan Committee, which provides scholarships to Bay Area graduating seniors. He originated and chaired the Trail Boss Program, which has raised the equivalent of $700,000 for the HLSR’s Scholarship Fund and also was active with the Rodeo’s Speakers Committee, serving as vice chairman and in 1999 was named Speaker of the Year. He also supported the construction of the Longhorn Project at the Johnson Space Center and served as liaison between the HLSR spacecraft as the on-orbit emergency rescue vehicle for the International Space Station. Arnold joined Lockheed Missiles and Space Company in 1994 as vice president. He retired in 2007.

Arnold’s honors include Presidential Rank of Distinguished Executive, Presidential Rank of Meritorious Executive (twice), NASA Distinguished Service Medal (three times), Northeastern University Outstanding Alumni Award, Arthur S. Fleming Award, NASA Outstanding Leadership Medal, VFW Aviation and Space Award, AIAA Space Systems Award, and NASA Exceptional Service Award. He was a member of the International Academy of Astronautics, an Honorary Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and a member of the National Academy Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board. Arnold began his career after earning a Board of Directors and JSC. In 2000, he was awarded the NASA Public Service Medal for his work assisting JSC’s involvement with the Rodeo. In 2003, Gene was elected to the HLSR Board of Directors, becoming a Lifetime Director in 2005. And in 2012, he was awarded the Silver Steer award for his 25 years of service to the NASA Go Texan committee.

But it wasn’t all about NASA and the Rodeo. In 2010, Gene was selected as one of the “10 Renaissance Men” in the Bay Area and awarded the Outstanding Friend of the Arts award by TAACCL. He was an honoree at the prestigious Men and Women of Heart gala, and named a Super Star by the Clear Creek Education Foundation.

He also served on the boards of the Clear Lake Education Foundation, the Longhorn Project, High School Aerospace Scholars, the San Luis Hotel Condominium Council, and the Lunar Rendezvous Festival. (He was King of this festival in 2018). He was a member of the Bay Oaks Country Club, First United Methodist Church of Pasadena, Space City Corvette Club, and the Clear Lake Chamber of Commerce. He actively volunteered for Communities in Schools and the American Heart Association.

Somehow, amid this whirlwind schedule of charity work and fundraising, Gene and Emmeline managed to find time to travel around the world, visiting places as far apart as Hawaii and Russia.

Services are pending due to the pandemic. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to The Longhorn Project at NASA, 957 NASA

Arnold Deane Aldrich, of

Parkway, #129, Houston Texas 77058. B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University in 1959.

Following his retirement Arnold continued to support space initiatives including mentoring young aerospace program managers, serving as an AIAA Honorary Fellow, and helping select award winners for annual NASA Rotary Awards. Arnold enjoyed baseball, boating, fishing, gardening, and camping with friends. Arnold also researched and published a genealogy book of the Aldrich family from 1605 until present day. In recent years he was an ardent supporter of the American Battlefield Trust.

Arnold is survived by his wife of 61 years, Eleanor Harris Aldrich; his son, Russell Aldrich, and his wife, Resa, of Ashburn, Va.; his daughter, Susan Zoch, and her husband, David, of Columbia, Md.; and four grandchildren, Chad Aldrich, Natalie Aldrich, Olivia Aldrich and Lisa Zoch.