From http://www.collectspace.com/ubb/Forum38/HTML/001029.html
“According to his nephew, William G. Schweikhard passed away on July 12, 2009. He was a candidate for the NASA astronaut class 2 and selected for the military astronaut class 1.”
William G Schweikhard
Birth: Jul. 8, 1932
Hollywood
Los Angeles County
California, USA
Death: Jul. 12, 2009
Los Angeles
Los Angeles County
California, USA
Antelope Valley Press
Classification 1000
Obituary notices and memorials
These ads appeared in the Antelope Valley Press
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
SCHWEIKHARD, William G. 77. Beloved husband, father, grandfather, and friend,
died Sunday, July 12, 2009, at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles following
a brief illness. Bill, as he was known to family and friends, had an illustrious
career in the aerospace industry that spanned more than five decades. A
co-founder of Kohlman Systems Research, he was associated with or directed
numerous aerodynamic, propulsion, and performance flight test and research
programs worldwide. A senior scientist for AS&M at NASA Dryden Flight Research
Center, he also was a professor of Aerospace Engineering at the University of
Kansas, Director of Propulsion and Performance Research at NASA Dryden Flight
Research Center and academic technical director of the USAF experimental test
pilot school. Most recently he was President of Flitech Inc. Among Bills many
awards and honors was the AIAA Octave Chanute Award for lifelong contributions
to Flight Testing. Bill also played an instrumental role in the founding of
America's space program, developing and teaching the first astronaut training
class. In addition to his distinguished career in the aerospace industry, Bill
was a heart transplant recipient who often told people that he was very young
because he started his second lease on life when he received a heart at the
University Hospital of Cincinnati in 1998. Born July 8, 1932, in Hollywood,
California, to George and Edna Schweikhard, Bill was a graduate of Fairfax High
School. He received a bachelors degree in engineering from the University of
California at Los Angeles, and a masters degree in mechanical engineering from
the University of Southern California. On July 23, 1955, he married Nebraska
native Carol Bridenbaugh, whom he met through church, and they had four
children. The Schweikhards lived in Lancaster, California until 1978, when Bill
accepted a professor of Aerospace Engineering position at the University of
Kansas in Lawrence. In 1995, they returned to the Antelope Valley and lived in
Palmdale, where Mr. Schweikhard continued his consulting and academic work. In
the Spring of 2009, Bill and Carol moved to Round Rock, Texas. Bill was active
in the Lutheran Church in every community where he lived. He also enjoyed travel
and spending time with his wife of 54 years, their children and grandchildren.
He is survived by his wife Carol Schweikhard of Round Rock, Texas, and his
children Jo Ann Moss and husband Mark of Georgetown, Texas; Craig Schweikhard
and wife Nancy of Ventura, Calif.; Keith Schweikhard and wife Sharon of
Palmdale, California; and Russell Schweikhard and wife Tracy of Fairfax,
Virginia. Five grandchildren also survive. They are Melanie Moss of Georgetown,
Texas; Nicolas and Rachel Schweikhard of Ventura, California; and MacKenzie and
Samantha Schweikhard of Fairfax, Virginia. He also is survived by his nephew
Carl Bailey of Chapel Hill, North Carolina. He was preceded in death by his
sister Betty Ann Bailey.