Written By Ruth Ann Ruiz
Features Editor
Photos Courtesy of David Alcorn
She was born at St. Mary’s Hospital in Galveston, and little did her mamma know the baby girl she cradled in her arms would grow up to one day serve as one of the Woman of Apollo.
Rhonda Alcorn, whose young years were filled with normal childhood activities in the La Marque community, such as playing games with her siblings and being a cheerleader at Lincoln High School, went on to work for NASA’s Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center as an Aerospace Engineer from 1969-1979.
She worked as an aerospace engineer serving during the Apollo era and was named as one of the Women of Apollo in July 2024. A photo of Rhonda Alcorn now graces the Dorothy Vaughan Center in Honor of the Women of Apollo at the Johnson Space Center.
A ceremony was held July 19 of this year to honor the Women of Apollo. It celebrated Alcorn and more than 30 other women who worked on the Apollo missions. It is estimated that only 5% of the engineers were female during the Apollo era.
Pictued is: Louis and Rhonda Alcorn’s wedding announcement photo
Dorthy Vaughan, for whom Johnson Space Center Building 12 is now named, was a mathematician and human computer “whose calculations helped guide the United States’ early aeronautics research,” according to space.com. She was the first Black American woman to be promoted to the position of supervisor. Her accomplishments were highlighted in the 2016 movie “Hidden Figures.”
David Alcorn said he remembers his mom, Rhonda Alcorn coming home saying she was going to be working on a simulator project for space. He didn’t fully grasp what she was working on at the time, but he watched his mom’s delight with and dedication to her career and her family through the years.
Pictured left to right: Rhonda with her Sisters from left to right: Adonis Bruton, Rhonda Alcorn, Barbara Carraway, Vanessa Hearne
“Mom did it all she raised a family, coached softball, she was a girl scout leader, and she had her career,” David Alcorn said. “She used to come in on career days at high school and talk about space.
Louis Alcorn, Rhonda’s husband confirmed his wife was a superb woman who did it all.
“She took care of all the family bookkeeping,” he said, and with a lift of his finger and a smile, he added, “and she took care of the homework.”
Then Mr. Alcorn shared with me about the time he was invited to visit the simulator at the Johnson Space Center.
“The simulator was amazing,” he said.
The family enjoyed living amongst extended family members who were always within a few blocks of each other.
While Rhonda was a rising star in the aerospace industry, her husband Louis stood by her side and together, they raised a son and a daughter.
“I learned how to solve problems from my mom, and I learned how to fix things from my dad,” David said.
Louis Alcorn worked as a pipe fitter for Amoco. His career path employed the handyman skills that Rhonda relied on through their years together.
David took me further back into his memories to when he was just a young boy, and his teenage sister brought her friends over to their home.
“There was mom helping all of my sister’s friends with their math homework,” David said.
David remembers going to visit his mom at work. He thought of her as the boss.
Rhonda worked as an engineer and supervisor in the aerospace industry for several decades. Her career went beyond NASA and included private companies, such as Lockheed Martin and MRI Technologies, among others.
His sisters remember seeing her on the news at times when she was out of town in Huntsville, Alabama and once when she was in Russia. They remember her speaking about space on the news.
When Rhonda was growing up, she didn’t strike her siblings as being a mathematical wizard, but she did strike them as being someone who was going to grow up and do something different. They just didn’t know what she was going to do.
“She was our overachiever,” Rhonda’s sister Adonis said. “She always has been, and she was always personable. People were drawn to her. She was always trying to take care of other people’s problems.”
Her other sister recalls the time Rhonda decided to defend student locker rights, which as the sisters tell the story, ended up getting Rhonda suspended from school.
Rhonda was also a woman of faith and attended Hunter Chapel CME, where she first taught children’s Sunday school and then taught adult Sunday school.
Her retirement years included volunteering with other seniors helping them with their IRS forms. She also continued to celebrate life with her enthusiasm for events. She served as a coordinator for class reunions and other festive celebrations, such as Halloween parties.
“Mom always got dressed up like a witch for Halloween,” David said. “She loved Halloween.”
Sadly, Rhonda Alcorn passed away In December 2023. She was represented at NASA’s July ceremony by those who continue to love her dearly.
While her family and friends grieve the loss of their wife, mom, sister, grandmother and classmate they hold onto the memories of her life’s accomplishments and her never-ending spirit of giving to others in the La Marque and Texas City communities.
“She was the smartest person in our class. And she put together all our class events like our senior trip to Dallas. She put together our 50-year reunion with a cruise. We didn’t have to do anything she organized all of it. She put together parties and picnics, with her gone, no one is organizing anything for our class,” said her high school friend, Shafeeq Hasan, class of 1969 Lincoln High School.
“She made the Who’s Who in (American) Colleges and Universities,” said Louis Alcorn. “But she never did talk about it,” he added. “She was just doing her job and never took credit for anything.”
Her son David highlighted even more of her great qualities and yet another way she contributed to her community.
“Mom was very organized,” David shared. She didn’t mind taking the lead and putting things together. She kept teaching as a substitute in La Marque ISD till she couldn’t anymore because of her health. Just last August she was helping her grandson with his precalculus homework.”
