Volker Roth, 83, of Huntsville, Alabama, passed away peacefully on December 5, 2025, with his wife, Pamela, daughter, Valerie Roth, and son-in-law, Eddie Hill by his side.
He was born on June 23, 1942, near Peenemünde, Germany and moved to the United States in 1946 with Operation Paper Clip. He is the son of Ludwig Roth (Hilde) who was a member of the Von Braun team.
Following graduation (1965) from the University of Southern California with a degree in Aerospace Engineering, (the first AE class to graduate from USC), he joined the Douglas Aircraft Company to be involved with Saturn S-IVB. He spent two years in Aerodynamic and Thermodynamic analysis with a focus on low density plume impingement, boundary layer, flow, and venting analysis. He then moved to Flight Kinetics, Controls, and System Sequences department where he analyzed the S-IVB systems and trained JSC flight controllers and flight crew on the S-IVB systems and sequences.
He had 42 years of experience in Manned Space Flight Development with two short sojourns into National Missile Defense and Ground Based Missile Defense.
In 1969, he was asked to represent the then McDonnell Douglas S-IVB and Skylab Flight Mechanics Department at NASA/MSFC. Upon return to California, after the three-year assignment, he was assigned the position of Study Manager, Advanced Concepts. This focused on use of Saturn hardware for Advanced Spacecraft for NASA and DOD.
In 1971, he joined the ballistic missile defense team to evaluate system effectiveness for strategic defense systems, such as C3 centers, Minuteman, Submarine Networks, and Population Centers.
In 1977, he accepted an assignment to manage Spacelab operations with McDonnell Douglas in Huntsville, Alabama. This was the first time European space flight hardware would be used for multiple flights to space with varying mission objectives. Two years later, he was asked to assume the task of mechanical hardware development for the MDAC Spacelab Program, including the Spacelab Transfer Tunnel and the Optical Window Adapter Assembly.
In 1983, he was selected as director of Program Development. Highlights of this assignment were the winning of the Aero Assist Flight Experiment Program and the new contract for Spacelab.
In 1991, he was named the Spacelab Program Manager. During the next 11 years, the team consistently received exceedingly high award scores and in 1997 was selected for the Contractor Excellence Award. Most importantly, the team flew 44 successful missions, and the Skylab systems never compromised the experimenter’s ability to complete their science, while amassing an excellent safety record. Also, during this time, McDonnell Douglas merged with Boeing.
In 2000, he accepted an additional challenge of International Space Station, Payload Programs Manager. This program needed a senior leader. The team was able to achieve significant changes in performance, which resulted in acknowledgment from the NASA/MSFC Director for outstanding performance.
In 2002, he accepted a one-year assignment as GMD Director of Modeling and Simulation.
In 2003, he was assigned as the Boeing Orbital Space Plan Program Manager. He was responsible for overall program, technical quality, technical decisions/trade-offs, programmatic decisions, and financial performance.
At this point, he joined the space exploration systems organization at Boeing as Director, Commercial Space Services. This activity included evaluation of requirements for potential commercial applications and involvement with numerous domestic entities as well as Russian and Japanese space, organizations and companies.
He received additional education throughout the years attending The Brookings Institute (Federal Government Operations), The Wharton School (Executive Development Program), McDonnell Douglas Corporation (Advanced Management Course), and Boeing Executive Programs (2000/2002).
He retired in 2006 from Boeing after 42 years.
Once he retired, he LOVED traveling the world with his wife, his brother, Axel (Gloria), and eventually grandchildren with hopes the grandchildren would catch the bug. He also was an avid golfer until he could no longer play. He was a member of Valley Hill Country Club for almost 25 years.
He was preceded in death by his parents, Ludwig and Hilde Roth, and brothers, Werner Roth, Gerhard Roth, and Axel Roth.
He is survived by his loving wife of 58 years, Pamela; children, Valerie Roth (Eddie Hill) and Marc Roth (Sonya); four grandchildren, Curtis Roth, Alyson Fox (Oliver), Conner Kistemaker (Katelyn), and Caitlin Roth (Savanna); brother, Diether Roth (Colleen); brother-in-law, Russell Eckenboy (Judy); sisters-in-law, Gloria Roth, Beth Roth, and Cindy Roth; nieces and nephews, Karl Roth (Toni), Eric Roth (Lisa), Peter Roth (Dawn), Kurt Roth, Kristy Roth, Timothy Roth (Yvonne), Michelle Whisenand, Tiffany Roth, Lisa Schwenn (Dave) and Brian Eckenboy (Kristina); as well as other family in California, Germany, and Chile.
Services are private.
In lieu of flowers contributions can be made to the Greater Huntsville Humane Society, 2812 Johnson Road, Huntsville, AL 35805, 256-881-8081 (https://www.greaterhuntsville.app.neoncrm.com/forms/donate).
