Frank McGhee Elam, son of Frank Haynes Elam and Nan Oriel Victoria McGhee Elam, passed away Feb. 4, 2013 in Clear Lake City, age 80. He was born Feb. 18, 1932 in Ft. Worth, TX. He was 2 weeks away from his 81st birthday. He was preceded in death by his wife, Annabel Beyer (d. May 10, 1993), and his sisters Leila Carol Sanders Cleveland (d. 2010) and Nan Alice Phillips Hamby (d. 2013). Frank was a graduate of the University of Texas with a Master’s of Science degree in petroleum engineering, which he received on June 1, 1957. He married Annabel Beyer one week later on June 8, 1957 in Austin. Frank later received a law degree from the University of Houston, Bates College and was also a patent law attorney. One of his early jobs was at Convair Aircraft, but his main career was in aerospace engineering at NASA, starting around 1964. He worked on the Apollo space program to the moon in the Control Systems Branch perfecting the Little Joe II attitude and motion control unit, and also worked on the guidance system and other aspects of the space shuttle and tracking system data. He retired from NASA about 1994. He knew a lot about the Bible and history, and enjoyed auto mechanics. He is survived by nieces and husbands, Kathy & Mike Clark, Michele & Dave Feuerborn, Brenda and Tom Young, Susan Sanders & Steve Tollefson, and nephew and wife, Jim and Vickie Hamby, and nephew William Sanders, Jr., niece Heather Barrick, and numerous cousins. Visitation will be at Forest Park East, 21620 Gulf Freeway, Saturday, Feb. 9 at 2 PM, followed by a memorial service at 3 PM.
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