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Let's see... Willie was in quite a number
of classes with me and he was a friend -- not one of my
closest friends, but certainly a familiar friend. He was
just about the same way in high school as he was at age
41. He was the prototypical clean-cut eagle scout. He was
always very conscientious in his work and was an exemplary
student.
Beyond that, Willie was a really nice guy.
He was rather quiet -- not the boastful sort that we envision
when we think of test pilots and astronauts. I think his
favorite class was calculus, and our teacher, Mary Hildebrand,
was probably his strongest influence in high school. Ed
Jarman was very important to him as well. I remember Willie
sitting right next to me in Calculus, and Danny Hindes sat
right behind him. Danny would always be pulling odd things
out of his infamous trench coat to illustrate math problems
(once even a raw egg!), and Willie would just look down
and shake his head with a big grin on his face. I think
that's the image that will remain engrained in my head.
Willie was always smiling to himself, as though he found
a bit of humor in everything he saw. Nothing had changed
over the decades. In all the shots I saw on the news, he
was the same Willie I knew in high school.
Willie mostly ran with the math and science
crowd -- me, Joe Gregg, Danny Hindes, Ted Crouch, and Molly
Mills, to name a few. I've only been in recent communication
with Danny Hindes. Now only was he one of Willie's closer
friends, but he is also a Boeing engineer, and he's been
following the coverage pretty closely.
I had a good cry when I heard the news,
but I take great comfort in the fact that Willie died doing
what he most wanted to do. I smiled when I saw NASA's press
release interview with him prior to the flight. He was grinning
from ear to ear -- probably the most eager astronaut I've
ever seen. The real tragedy would be if he had died on the
way up, not having the opportunity to do his job as an astronaut.
Hope that helps...
Peace,
Sarah Fox
PS Even though the press is calling him
"William" he went by "Willie" up until the day he died.
The space suit he died in had a patch that read, "Willie
McCool." I think the press needs to know that.
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I remember
Willie as a warm, loving, understanding, caring individual.
If u ever needed a shoulder to lean on, he was there to
comfort u when you were down. He had a smile that would
melt your heart. I knew him from choir and band. I also
knew him from Track. My brother was in track with him. I
was a Gandy's girl so I went to the track meets to watch
him race. I went out with him a few times. He was always
the gentlemen. He never had a harsh thing to say about anyone.
I was very saddened when I heard the news about him. He
died doing what he does best. I am very proud of him. He
will always be a hero to me. I hope my kids will remember
him and they can tell their kids about him too. I LOVE YOU
WILLIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sharon
(Sims) Burleson |
