Bernard Henry Mollberg

Bernard Henry Mollberg passed away peacefully at his home in McMahan, Texas, on Dec. 18, 2006. He was born on Jan. 29, 1924, in Austin, Texas, to Bernard C. and Annie L. (Grant) Mollberg.
Bernard is survived by his wife of 63 and one-half years, Maebeth Buford Mollberg; his three children, Amy Mollberg and her husband Terry Daugherty, Bernard Mollberg and his wife Mali

ssa, and Cindy Gibeaux and her husband Jeff; five grandchildren, Nick, Alex and Laura Mollberg, and Olivia and Jake Gibeaux.
Bernie attended Austin High School and played football under the coaching of the well-known Stan Lambert and Tony Burger. After graduation and service in the Navy during World War II, he returned to the University of Texas and University of Houston, earning both his Bachelor”s and Master”s degrees between 1949 and 1951.
He taught at the University of Houston and then went on to be the director of the U.S. Naval Photo Lab in Port Hueneme, California. In 1954, when President Dwight Eisenhower requested that the Chrysler Corporation develop the first ballistic missiles, Bernie was asked to become the director of in-flight photo optical instrumentation for the Red Stone, Jupiter-C, and Saturn Rockets.
In late 1966, Bernie accepted a position with NASA at the Johnson Space Center. He was responsible for onboard in-flight photo optical instrumentation systems for early, unmanned Apollo Saturn flights. He later became the Experiment Development Manager for the Apollo Panoramic Camera used for charting the moon”s surface. He was also the Project Manager/Engineer/Scientist and Principal Investigator for the Space Shuttle Orbiter”s Large Format Camera, which made high-resolution photographs of the earth for cartographic applications.
Bernie retired in 1987 to operate the family ranch in McMahan, where he also served as a volunteer fire fighter and president of the McMahan Volunteer Fire Department.
Funeral services were held Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006, at the Grace Lutheran Church in Lockhart with Rev. Wayne Walther officiating. The family gathered privately in the Austin Memorial Park to lay Bernie to rest.
In lieu of flowers, donations to the Grace Lutheran Church in Lockhart will be greatly appreciated.
Arrangements were made under the care and guidance of McCurdy Funeral Home, 105 E. Pecan St., Lockhart, TX, (512) 398-4791.