Claremore Woman's Husband Helped NASA Reach The Moon

40 years after his death, a Claremore woman is still proud to share the story of how her husband helped make the Apollo 11 Mission possible.

Vivian Williams' husband, Larry, had a job providing NASA with technical drawings about different parts and pieces of the Apollo 11 spaceship.

"The drawings and things for that, you had to be perfect," she said. "You could not be off."

At the time, Vivian said she and her kids didn't think much of it. It was his job; he'd leave for work in the morning and come home in the evening, just like everyone else. Soon a special visitor dropped by their home after the mission was completed.

"One of the astronauts came to the house," Vivian said. "I thought it was Alan Shepard, but I'm not positive of that."

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"That's when I kind of woke up and decided that this was a big deal," she said. 

Vivian still has a letter sent to her husband by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

"It was thanking my husband," she said. "'As astronauts, we fully appreciation your pledge of continued dedication and support in your work with the Apollo 11 Spacecraft Program.'"

When his work was done, they moved away from Tulsa and opted for a less stressful life.

"We bought a gas station in Claremore and moved to Claremore, and have been here ever since," she said.

Larry died of lung cancer in 1980, but Vivian said she still loves telling the story of how her husband helped the first man get to the moon.

Vivian said she donated her husband's original drawings to the Tulsa Air and Space Museum to make sure they're a well preserved part of American history.