Carl D. “Doug” Lamb, 83, of Huntsville passed away Thursday, February 14, 2019. Doug was born in Birmingham, AL and was a graduate of West End High School in 1953. He attended Auburn University, graduating in January 1958 with a BS degree in Mechanical Engineering. He was a member of Pi Mu Epsilon, Tau Beta Pi, and Pi Tau Sigma Honorary Fraternities. After graduation from Auburn, he was employed by Hayes Aircraft in Birmingham for a short time as a design engineer. He joined the NASA Launch Operations Directorate (Kennedy Space Center) in August 1961 and moved to Marshall Space Center in July 1965. While at NASA, he participated in all the major programs including but not limited to the Saturn 1, Saturn 1B, Saturn V, Skylab, Hubble and Shuttle. Doug received numerous awards during his tenure including two Exceptional Service Medals for his work with the Saturn V and Shuttle programs and his 30 Year Service Award in March 1991. He continued to work for NASA until his retirement in June 1994.
Since then, Doug liked to stay in touch with his fellow retirees and enjoyed meeting them for lunch every Tuesday. He also enjoyed horse racing and often traveled to Kentucky’s Churchill Downs for a weekend of racing. He enjoyed the sport and attended the Kentucky Derby many times. At home, Doug enjoyed going to the gym and watching the many deer that wandered into the yard every evening.
He was preceded in death by his father, Carl Jacob Lamb and mother, Ophelia Lowe Lamb. He is survived by his wife, Johnnie W. Lamb; sister, Jeanne Webber of Birmingham; son, William D. Lamb; daughters, Kimberly L. Lamb (Smith) and Karen L. Lamb; granddaughters, Justyn Lamb (Millar) and Brittany Terry (Tibbs); and his great-grandchildren, George Millar, Elaina E. Tibbs and James Brodie Tibbs Jr.
Visitation will be from 2 to 3 p.m., Saturday, February 23 at Laughlin Service Funeral Home with the funeral service following in the chapel.
