JOHN K. HOLCOMB Navy Captain and NASA Official John K. Holcomb, 69, an aeronautical engineer and retired Navy captain who was an Apollo program operations director for NASA from 1964 until he retired in 1976, died of cancer July 19 at Bethesda Naval Hospital. He lived in Rockville. As director of Apollo operations with NASA's Office of Manned Space Flight in Washington, he reviewed and approved Apollo operational plans. Before joining NASA, Capt. Holcomb was a Navy officer who worked with guided missiles and rocketry. Between 1954 and 1962, his assignments included duty as a project officer in the Regulus II surface-to-surface missile program and as head of the Navy's surface-to-surface missile testing program. While in the Navy, Capt. Holcomb was assigned to NASA in 1962 as an assistant director of launch operations in the Office of Manned Space Flight. He retired from the Navy when he became operations director for the Apollo program. Capt. Holcomb was a graduate of Marquette University in his native Wisconsin. He was commissioned in the Navy during World War II and served as an aviation maintenance officer in the United States and the Pacific. He received a master's degree in aeronuatical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy in the late 1940s. He was a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Ordnance Association and the Naval Order of the United States. After his retirement, he was a docent at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, and over the years he sang baritone with the Alexandria Virginia Harmonizers, a barbershop chorus. His first wife, Jane Freistedt Holcomb, died in 1974. Survivors include his wife, Betty Keller Holcomb of Rockville; two children from his first marriage, Johnny Holcomb of Elkhart, Ind., and Jenna Cooley of Winchester, Va.; and two grandchildren.
JOHN K. HOLCOMB Navy Captain and NASA Official John K. Holcomb, 69, an aeronautical engineer and retired Navy captain who was an Apollo program operations director for NASA from 1964 until he retired in 1976, died of cancer July 19 at Bethesda Naval Hospital. He lived in Rockville. As director of Apollo operations with NASA's Office of Manned Space Flight in Washington, he reviewed and approved Apollo operational plans. Before joining NASA, Capt. Holcomb was a Navy officer who worked with guided missiles and rocketry. Between 1954 and 1962, his assignments included duty as a project officer in the Regulus II surface-to-surface missile program and as head of the Navy's surface-to-surface missile testing program. While in the Navy, Capt. Holcomb was assigned to NASA in 1962 as an assistant director of launch operations in the Office of Manned Space Flight. He retired from the Navy when he became operations director for the Apollo program. Capt. Holcomb was a graduate of Marquette University in his native Wisconsin. He was commissioned in the Navy during World War II and served as an aviation maintenance officer in the United States and the Pacific. He received a master's degree in aeronuatical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy in the late 1940s. He was a member of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, the American Ordnance Association and the Naval Order of the United States. After his retirement, he was a docent at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum, and over the years he sang baritone with the Alexandria Virginia Harmonizers, a barbershop chorus. His first wife, Jane Freistedt Holcomb, died in 1974. Survivors include his wife, Betty Keller Holcomb of Rockville; two children from his first marriage, Johnny Holcomb of Elkhart, Ind., and Jenna Cooley of Winchester, Va.; and two grandchildren.
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