Who is James Irwin? ... NOT hard to say

Straight from the Student Handbook....

Who was James Irwin?

Apollo 15 astronaut, James Irwin, was born March 17, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to a working class family. He was an ordinary man who accomplished extraordinary things through persistence. James Irwin overcame obstacles. He adjusted to several family relocations throughout childhood from Pennsylvania to Florida to Oregon to Utah. He barely received a commission into Annapolis, sneaking in by a fraction of a grade point. Yet he hated the Navy, hated ships, and hated the idea of sitting on a ship for a long period of time. At graduation he was commissioned into the newly established United States Air Force. He didn’t like to fly in the beginning. He almost left flight training. In fact, it wasn’t until his first solo that he discovered his love for flight. While a flight instructor, his student once crashed their plane resulting in two compound leg fractures, a broken jaw, and temporary memory loss for Jim. He not only survived, but also overcame these health impairments to become a test fighter pilot. 

Although initially passed over for service with the space program, his persistence led to successful graduation from Space School and acceptance into the Astronaut Corps one month prior to the age cutoff.

In 1965, Jim, his wife Mary, and their four children, Joy, Jill, Jimmy, and Jan moved from Edwards Air Force Base to the Air Defense Command in Colorado Springs. In March of 1973, little Joe would join the family via an orphanage in Saigon.

James Irwin was a famous explorer, not only of the surface of the Moon, but also of the surface of the Earth, as he assisted in the search for Noah’s Ark. James Irwin is a local and contemporary hero to hold before our student body as a role model. James Irwin emulates the character qualities that lead to success. 

He pursued excellence in academics, his profession, his family, and in his community service. Though he died in Glenwood Springs in August 1991, his wife, Mary, son Joe, an attorney, and his daughters Jill and Jan still reside in Colorado Springs. His daughter Joy lives in Florida and his son Jim lives in Houston, Texas. This biographical information, as well as, much more may be found in James Irwin’s autobiography, To Rule the Night, which is available in our school library.