J.C. Poole Jr., 90, passed away Friday, Sept. 19, 2014.
He was preceded in death by his wife of 58 years, Catherine Aigner, in 2006, and parents, James C. Sr. and Mary Effie Beck Poole, and also his three brothers: Sterling, Lois and Horace. He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II and was honorably discharged in 1946.
J.C. and Catherine married Jan. 6, 1948. Catherine worked as a registered nurse at the hospital in Opelika, Alabama, while J.C. was a student at Auburn, which at that time was named Alabama Polytechnic Institute. Upon earning a degree in civil engineering in 1951, J.C. moved the family to Muscle Shoals where he worked with TVA. In 1954, he accepted a job as a civilian working with the Army at Redstone Arsenal and moved the family to Huntsville, Alabama. When NASA was created, he transferred to them to work in the space program. He remained with NASA until he retired in 1979. Having raised their five children in Huntsville, J.C. and Catherine returned home to Muscle Shoals, where they lived for the remainder of their lives.
Survivors include two daughters, Margaret Claire Selby, of Fairhope, Alabama, and Anne Ruth Kenny (Don), of Bradenton, Florida; three sons, Dan Poole (Patsy), of New Market, Alabama, Jack Poole, of Hazel Green, Alabama, and Mike Poole (Jennifer), of Southside, Alabama; nine grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.
Visitation will be 10-11 a.m. Tuesday at Our Lady of The Shoals Catholic Church in Tuscumbia, followed by a funeral mass at 11 a.m. Burial will follow in Holy Cross Cemetery.
