Celebrity Graveland

November 18, 1923 – July 21, 1998

Alan Shepard was an American Naval test pilot and astronaut. He was a member of the vaunted Mercury 7 – the first group of astronauts in the U.S. His most notable achievement was as the “first American in space.” His often-delayed May 1961 mission was somewhat eclipsed by the fact that the Soviet Union successfully sent one of their cosmonauts into space just three weeks earlier. Still, Shepard’s accomplishment was met with ticker tape parades and hero status.

Following Project Mercury, Shepard served as Chief of the Astronaut Office for Project Gemini. He had been grounded due to an inner-ear condition. By 1968, doctors were able to correct his condition and he was reinstated as flight-ready for the Apollo missions. Shepard commanded the Apollo 14 mission in 1971 and became the 5th man to walk – and the first to knock around some golf balls – on the moon.

Shepard retired from NASA and the Navy in 1974 and went on to make lots of money in real estate. He was diagnosed with leukemia in 1996 and died in 1998. His wife of 53 years – with whom, he had not always been faithful – died two months later.  

Burial

Cremated – Ashes scattered over the Pacific Ocean near Carmel, CA

Specific Location

Though his ashes were scattered, there is a memorial cenotaph for Alan and his wife at the Shepard family plot in Forest Hill Cemetery in Derry, NH. The plot can be found near the intersection of Eastman Ave. and Shepard Ave. Alan’s marker is located behind (north of) the large SHEPARD monument.

This entry was posted on September 14, 2020 at 12:43 pm and is filed under Cremated with tags Astronauts, Cremated, Forest Hill Cemetery (NH), Mercury 7. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.