James Palmer Lindberg. Jr. was born to parents J. Palmer and Laura Lindberg in Minneapolis, Minnesota on August 25, 1927. He lived in the Minneapolis area until 1943 when the family moved to Wabasha, Minnesota where he graduated from Wabasha High School in 1945. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was in boot training at Great Lakes Training Center when World War II ended and he was subsequently discharged. After discharge, he attended Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, and then the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. Jim graduated from the University in 1951 with a degree in aeronautical engineering. After graduation he went on active duty with the U.S. Air Force where he served until 1954.
After leaving the Air Force he was employed by the U.S. Army in the Guided Missile Development Division at Redstone Arsenal where he worked on flight evaluation for the Redstone and Jupiter missile flights. In 1960 when Marshall Space Flight Center was established under NASA, Jim transferred to NASA with the von Braun team. During his time with NASA he worked on the Saturn 1, Saturn lB and Saturn V launch vehicles, the MSFC elements of the Space Shuttle and the Spacelab payload carried in the Space Shuttle Orbiter. He was chief of the Mission Analysis Division and was responsible for defining the pre-launch and post-flight launch vehicle ascent trajectories, making pre-flight predictions and post-flight evaluations of propulsion systems performance. The division was also responsible for the preparation of the pre-flight on-orbit crew activity plans for the Spacelab missions and for updating those during the mission. He also headed the MSFC Flight Evaluation Working Group which coordinated the documentation of the post flight evaluation results of the MSFC Laboratories and contractor teams for the Saturn lB, Saturn V launch vehicles and the MSFC Space Shuttle launch elements.
After retirement, Jim became active in the Academy for Lifetime Learning at UAH, which later became the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UAH. He served on the Board of Directors for many years, including two years as president. He also served on several committees of the organization.
Jim was preceded in death by his first wife of 32 years, Mary Alice; his parents; and his sister, Dorothy Marie. He is survived by his wife of 30 years, Patricia; two daughters, Mary Kathryn Morton (Steve) and Dorothy Havens (Calvin); stepson, Robert Nicaise; brother, Gary Lindberg (Marice); grandchildren, Nicholas Fees (Bethany) and Kayt Morton; step grandson, Caleb Havens; step granddaughter, Rachel Nicaise; and two great-granddaughters, Palmer Fees and Mary Abbott Fees.
Visitation will from 12:30 – 2:00 p.m. Monday, June 1st, at First Baptist Church Chapel. The funeral service will follow at 2:00 p.m. at the church with Rev. Travis Collins and Rev. Mark Seanor officiating. Burial will be in Maple Hill Cemetery.
In lieu of flowers, the family request memorials be made to the Huntsville Botanical Garden where Jim had spent some happy hours volunteering.
