Henry Thaddeus Gawrylowicz

Henry “Hank” Thaddeus Gawrylowicz passed away on July 15th, 2020, with his daughter Amy Heslep by his side. He was loved and will be missed by so many. Hank was born with his twin brother; Edmund Casmir Gawrylowicz, on September 9, 1928, in Passaic, New Jersey to Stanley Thaddeus Gawrylowicz and Eva(Gilarek). Their sister, Helena Gawrylowicz died before they were born. Hank graduated from Purdue University in 1955 with a BS in Chemical Engineering. Interrupting his studies, Hank served in the USAF, from 1952-1954, as a radar technician. Hank met Alice Jean (Sargent) while studying in Indiana and they were married on October 11, 1952. Henry began his professional career with Wright Aeronautical Division of Curtiss-Wright Corporation and worked on the Navajo Missile Project. He worked on the development of the original power plant for the Corvus Missile at Reaction Motors.Henry worked on the Dynasoar (X-20) for the Aerospace Division of Boeing and was Chief of Test Engineering at Liquid Rocket Propulsion Laboratory at Picatinny Arsenal before beginning his long career with the National Aeronautic and Space Administration. At NASA, Henry was the Vehicle Manager responsible for Lunar Modules 2, 7, and 11. LM 2 was not used and is on display at The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. LM 7, “Aquarius” was used as a lifeboat by the astronauts of Apollo 13. LM 11, flew with Apollo 16. “Orion”’s Descent stage remains on the moon, at the Descartes crater. Henry was awarded Patent Number 3,430,863 for a Variable Thrust Injector in 1969 while working at Picatinny. Henry earned his MS in Management Engineering at CW Post, Long Island University in 1967 before he and Alice welcomed their first child, David Stanley Gawrylowicz later that year. Amy Alexandra(Heslep) was born in 1969, and their family was complete. Henry spent the next years working at the Johnson Space Center in Houston Texas, and on the Space Shuttle Program and the International Space Station at NASA Headquarters in Washington, DC while the “Space Brats” towed along behind. Henry was the recipient of numerous Apollo Management Awards, including the “Silver Snoopy” for his contributions to Apollo 13. Henry was a Fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and held his Professional Engineer’s License in Texas. After NASA, Henry worked for several years as a Senior Staff member at Ford Aerospace and Northrup- Grumman. Henry’s long retirement has been spent touring Europe with Alice, woodworking, making friends wherever he went and doting on his adorable grandchildren; Julie Eva, William Case and Grace Irene, children of Henry’s son David and his wife Debbie, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, and Mason, the son of Amy and her husband Jim Heslep, of Gainesville, VA. Hank loved Alice with all his heart and was most grateful for her kindness. Alice wanted nothing more than to be with Henry, wherever he is. The two celebrated 64 anniversaries together and gave us all a wonderful example by which to live. Na Zdrwie!