Sentimental Sunday - Happy Father's Day!

My Dad Tim Creeden with his grandfather Charles Creeden in 1948

Sentimental Sunday - Happy Easter!

Wishing everyone a joyous Easter! This photo is of my father, Tim Creeden in 1939. Looks like he was having a great time!

Sentimental Sunday - Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to all the Dads out there! This is a picture of my Dad doing one of the things he loved best. He is the one sitting in the middle of the canoe. The picture was taken in the early 1950s and labeled with: Here we are half way across West Bay, passing by an island.  Left to Right: Bert Bruns, Tim Creeden, and Dick Bruns. I think he was referring to West Bay, Michigan.

Sentimental Sunday - 40th Anniversary of Skylab

Skylab I launch from Pad 39A, KSC

NASA is marking the 40th anniversary of Skylab this Monday with a televised discussion featuring Skylab astronauts.

From the NASA press release: NASA launched Skylab on May 14, 1973. It was the nation's first foray into significant scientific research in microgravity. The three Skylab crews proved humans could live and work effectively for long durations in space. The knowledge gathered during Skylab helped inform development and construction of the International Space Station, just as the research and technology demonstrations being conducted aboard the ISS will help shape a new set of missions that will take Americans farther into the solar system. 

This brings back a lot of memories for me since my Dad spent most of his career working at the Kennedy Space Center for NASA. The photos below are of the Skylab Activation Crew at Kennedy Space Center. My Dad is on the right in the first photo and the second from the right in the second photo. If anyone can identify the other people in the photo, please let me know! I would guess these were taken in 1972.

 

In 1972, NASA sent a bio and interview with my Dad to his hometown newspapers in Celina and Dayton and to the University of Dayton where he received his degree in Civil Engineering in 1958. It's a nice record of his career up to that point. He continued to work with NASA until his retirement in 1990.

I think my Dad would be sad to see a time when we don't have the capability to launch a vehicle to the Space Station. This quote from him was in the second page of the press packet:

"I believe that each new frontier opened to man must be explored and examined for all the knowledge it may yield," he said. "I think this is the responsibility for the leading nation of the world, and, for it to shirk from the responsibility may invite disaster at some future point of time, be it concerning space program, oceanographic research, or advanced medical and socialogical research."

Picture of the Skylab launch is from NASA's Skylab page.

Sentimental Sunday - Happy Easter!

Wishing everyone a very Happy Easter!

My Dad with his Easter bunny, Fluffy in the 1930s

Me and my first Easter dress and basket

My Dad with dressed up me

My Mom with me, my sister, and cousin

Sentimental Sunday - Father's Day

This old, faded photo used to sit on my Dad's desk and shows my first hiking trip with him in the Smoky Mountains.

There are so many experiences I've had thanks to him. We've been camping everywhere from the Florida Keys, up the east coast, out west to the Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, Zion, the Rocky Mountains, the Smoky Mountains and many other places. He used to love boating and we've been deep sea fishing in the Atlantic, taken day trips to islands in the Indian River, gone sailing, and tried our hand at water skiing. He passed his love of photography on to me and my sister and got me started in genealogy. He passed away in 2008 and we miss him greatly, but cherish all the memories.