Alden Roy Guillory

You could say that Alden R. Guillory was born with one foot in the sugar cane, and the other foot firmly in the Space Age. Alden was born in 1941 at home in Mamou, Louisiana, on Holy Saturday. He excelled in high school football, then shifted gears, graduating in 1965 from McNeese State University with a degree in mathematics. With just one computer class in the mix, he was scooped up by Boeing for their various NASA projects, and he worked on the Saturn rocket and the Gemini and Apollo missions. Working at Mission Control for the American moon shot was a particular point of pride for him.

He was a Trekkie, an amateur shutterbug, and a keen wanderer.

Also a family man. Always outnumbered by his sisters, wife, and daughter. Reveled in any excuse for a road trip: family vacations, camping, hiking, picnics. Sometimes he stayed put to watch football, though. #GeauxTigers

Also generous. He appreciated, even admired, hard work but was never hard with people who didn’t excel in the same way he did.

Tone deaf, but a dedicated whistler. Usually, it was a variation on any old cowboy song, but he really enjoyed that riff from “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.” (You know the one.)

Alden is survived by his wife of 60 years Gloria Dean Guillory, daughter Renée Guillory, sister- and brother-in-law Barbara and Roderick Chaumont, sister-in-law Rose Landry, sister- and brother-in-law Judy and Darrell Richard, brother-in-law Paul Anthony Sonnier, and brother- and sister-in-law Kent and Annie Sonnier, and many much-loved nieces and nephews, plus colleagues and friends from a rewarding work life. Preceded in death by grandparents Addie and Félicita Rider, parents Emra and Lelia Guillory, sister Brenda Guillory, and sister-in-law Theresa Thibodeaux.

A memorial mass will be held 12/20/2021 at 10:30 a.m. at St. Clare of Assisi Catholic Church located at the southwest corner of Bell Road and Cotton Lane (17111 W Bell Road, Surprise, Arizona 85374). Please wear a mask.

In lieu of flowers, please consider a donation to:

St Clare of Assisi St Vincent de Paul Conference

17111 W Bell Road

Surprise Arizona 85374

"A single person is missing for you, and the whole world is empty.”

—Joan Didion, The Year of Magical Thinking