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Apollo 15 astronaut James “Jim” Irwin was born March 17, 1930, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to a working class family. He was an ordinary man who accomplished extraordinary things through persistence in overcoming obstacles. He adjusted to several family relocations throughout childhood, moving to Pennsylvania, Florida, Oregon and Utah.
He barely received a commission into the Naval Academy at Annapolis, squeaking in by a fraction of a grade point. Yet he disliked the Navy, ships, and the idea of sitting on a ship for a long period of time. At graduation he was commissioned into the newly established United States Air Force. He did not like to fly, at least not in the beginning, and almost left flight training. Jim discovered his love for aviation after his first solo flight. If he had quit the application process for the Naval Academy, quit while at Annapolis, or quit flight training, Jim never would have walked on the moon. Once, while serving as a flight instructor, his student crashed a plane resulting in two compound leg fractures, a broken jaw and temporary memory loss for Jim. He not only survived, but also overcame these health impairments to become a test fighter pilot.
Although initially passed over for service with the space program, James Irwin’s persistence led to successful graduation from Space School and acceptance into the Astronaut Corps one month prior to the age cutoff.
In 1965, Jim, his wife Mary, and their four children, Joy, Jill, Jimmy, and Jan moved from Edwards Air Force Base to the Air Defense Command in Colorado Springs. In March of 1973, little Joe would join the family via an orphanage in Saigon.
James Irwin was a famous explorer, not only of the surface of the Moon, but also of the surface of the Earth, assisting in efforts to discover Noah’s Ark. James Irwin is a contemporary hero and role model for our student body. He epitomizes the character qualities that lead to success and is a standard of excellence in which we encourage our students to endeavor.
James Irwin pursued excellence in academics, his profession, his family, and in his community service. He died in Glenwood Springs in August 1991. His wife, Mary, and son Joe, an attorney, still reside in Colorado Springs. The preceding information is from James Irwin’s autobiography, To Rule the Night, which is available in our school library.