Barney Ronald McCullar, 81, of Huntsville, passed away Friday, July 24th, from complications of Parkinson’s Disease. Mr. McCullar was extremely proud of his work on the space program. His earliest work was at Hayes Aircraft where he participated in the design of the swing arms for the Apollo program. This work continued at Marshall Space Flight Center and Kennedy Space Center, and on to the launch of the first and subsequent Apollo missions. He was instrumental in designing the microwave landing system for the shuttle landing facility. One of his proudest achievements was as Project Manager of the Shuttle runway at KSC. He was assistant to NASA administrator, James Fletcher. Mr. McCullar was project manager for Solar Max repair mission and held other significant rolls in Voyager Spacecraft, James Webb Space Telescope, and many other missions. He was deputy manager of International Space Station at NASA headquarters; After moving back to Huntsville he was director of facilities at MSFC followed by Deputy Manager of Microgravity Research Program office. His last task was for liaison for Caradian Spc. Agency.
Survivors include his wife of 23 years, Jeanette Skinner McCullar; son, Patrick Ronald McCullar; siblings, Tracey McCullar Byerly and Richard James McCullar; and several nieces and nephews. He was preceded in death by his parents, Barney Sheppard McCullar and Juanita Argo McCullar.
Visitation will be from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. Sunday, July 26th, at Laughlin Service Funeral Home. There will be a private family service. (www.laughlinservice.com)
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Church of the Nativity, Episcopal, Outreach Foundation or Parkinson’s Foundation.
