The BulleTin • Sunday, april 25, 2021 A7
A busy space station after SpaceX arrival
BY MARCIA DUNN
AP Aerospace Writer
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla.
— The International Space
Station’s population swelled to
11 on Saturday with the jubi-
lant arrival of SpaceX’s third
crew capsule in less than a
year.
It’s the biggest crowd up
there in more than a decade.
All of the astronauts — rep-
resenting the U.S., Russia,
Japan and France — man-
aged to squeeze into camera
view for a congratulatory call
from the leaders of their space
agencies.
“In this tough situation
around the world, I believe
you have brought courage and
hope for all of us,” Japanese
Space Agency President Hi-
roshi Yamakawa said from his
country’s flight control center,
referring to the global pan-
demic.
A recycled SpaceX capsule
carrying four astronauts ar-
rived at the space station a
day after launching from NA-
SA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The Dragon capsule docked
autonomously with the or-
biting outpost more than 260
miles above the Indian Ocean.
The hatches swung open a
couple hours later, uniting all
11 space travelers.
“Man, it is awesome to see
the 11 of you on station,” said
NASA’s acting administrator,
Steve Jurczyk. He noted that
this will be the norm, now
that SpaceX is regularly flying
crews.
The newcomers will spend
six months at the space sta-
tion. They’ll replace four as-
tronauts who will return to
Earth in their own Dragon
capsule Wednesday to end
a half-year mission. NASA
deliberately planned for a
brief overlap so the outgoing
SpaceX crew could show the
new arrivals around.
Although this was SpaceX’s
third crew flight for NASA, it
was the first to use a vehicle
that’s flown before, an essen-
tial part of Musk’s push to the
moon and Mars. The Dragon
The SpaceX
Crew Dragon
spacecraft,
left, ap-
proaches
the interna-
tional space
station Sat-
urday.
capsule was used for SpaceX’s
first crew launch last May,
while the Falcon rocket soar-
ing Friday hoisted crew two in
November.
It was the first time two
SpaceX crew Dragons were
parked there at the same time
— practically side by side.
NASA
OBITUARY
Th omas “Tom” Richard Litt lehales
OBITUARY
January 13, 1944 - March 16, 2021
Patty Pauline Russell
Tom Litt lehales was born in Portland, Oregon on January 13th, 1944. He grew up in the
Portland neighborhood of Eastmoreland near Reed
College and All Saints Episcopal Church, where the
family att ended. It was a “Father Knows Best” kind
of childhood, when he made many, many lifelong
friends.
May 15, 1918 - April 19, 2021
Patt y Russell went to be with our Lord
on April 19, 2021 in Bend, Oregon. She
was born in Cott on City (now Eloy),
Arizona during the Spanish Flu epidemic
and died in Bend during the COVID-19
pandemic.
Her parents, Oti s and Jessie Jordan,
were cott on farmers from Erath County,
Texas, who moved to Cott on City in
1916, four years aft er Arizona became
a State. Her dad cleared the land and
planted cott on on what was desert land
that had never been culti vated. Plowing
was done with horses, and ratt lesnakes
were plenti ful. Cott on prices were high
during World War I, but they dropped
to only 10 cents a pound when the
war ended. Her family, including her
older sister, Edna, left Cott on City and
homesteaded west of Casa Grande,
Arizona, with the intenti on of planti ng cott on. However, there was no water in
Casa Grande at that ti me and, aft er proving up on the homestead, the family
moved to Glendale, Arizona, where they could get water from the Salt River to
grow cott on.
Patt y graduated from Glendale High
School in 1936 and att ended the
University of Arizona for a year, where
she played on the all-star girls’ soft ball
team. Aft erward she att ended business
school and went to work for the Federal
Bureau of Investi gati on in Phoenix before
and during World War II. She married her
hometown sweetheart, Arthur Halbrooks
in 1942. He joined the Army Air Corps
that year and was commissioned a 2nd
Lieutenant. He became a bombardier
on the B-17F Flying Fortress and was
assigned to the mighty 8th Air Force,
based at RAF Chelveston, England. The
unit began bombing German targets in
November 1942. On January 13, 1943,
his aircraft was shot down by German
anti -aircraft fi re over the railroad yards at
Lille, France. The bomber, one of a strike force of 72, crashed in Pollinkhove,
Belgium, killing all 10 crew members. Patt y and Art had been married less than
fi ve months.
Patt y conti nued to work for the FBI, where she was awarded the Certi fi cate
of Honorable War Service by J. Edgar Hoover. Meanwhile, her parents moved
back to the homestead in Casa Grande aft er the war, when decommissioned
submarine engines allowed the farmers to drill wells and pump water to their
cott on fi elds.
Patt y met her second husband, Harlan (Russ) Russell during the war, but she
would not remarry unti l Art’s death was confi rmed and the war was over. They
were fi nally married in September 1946. Russ had farming experience, and
cott on farming was in his blood. When Patt y’s father died in 1948, Patt y and Russ
moved to Casa Grande, where Russ became a full-ti me farmer. He experimented
with water-witching rods and, with them, drilled a second successful well, which
provided much needed irrigati on for the cott on fi elds. The water-witching rods
are sti ll in the family.
Patt y and Russ raised three daughters and parti cipated in all the rich social life
that small-town Casa Grande off ered. Patt y was a member of the Cott on Wives,
the Oasis Garden Club, the Eastern Star and the Casa Grande Valley Historical
Society. When the community built Hoemako Hospital in 1952, Patt y became an
auxiliary member. Russ died in 1984 doing what he loved, raising cott on. They
had been married for 37 happy years.
Patt y lived a long and fulfi lling life. Beloved by her family and a wide circle of
friends, she was known for her kindness, generosity and great sense of humor.
She celebrated her 100th birthday on May 15, 2018, at Touchmark reti rement
community in Bend, Oregon, surrounded by her children, grandchildren and
extended family. She is survived by her three daughters and their husbands:
Susan and Art Gilbreth of Sunriver, Oregon; Barbara and Jim Linam of Tucson,
Arizona; and Carol and Tom Donohoe of Bend, Oregon. Also by fi ve grandchildren:
Josh Linam and his wife, Hatti e, of Tucson, Arizona; Russ Linam of San Diego,
California; and Natalia, Amanda and Claire Donohoe all of Bend. Patt y had one
great-grandchild, two year-old Jonas Linam, of Tucson, Arizona. She is also
survived by a niece, Joan Malouf and her husband Rick of Scott sdale, Arizona,
and their daughter Amy and her husband Danny of Scott sdale.
Patt y will be buried beside Russ at Greenwood Cemetery in Phoenix. The family
wishes to express its appreciati on for the many kind condolences and for the
kindness shown by caregivers at Mount Bachelor Assisted Living Facility and
Heart and Home Hospice of Bend. Arrangements are entrusted to Niswonger-
Reynolds Funeral Home of Bend, Oregon. Guestbook comments can be made at
niswonger-reynolds.com.
In high school, in additi on to the usual sports, Tom
sang in the choir, with a beauti ful bass voice. He
was a cast member of the annual musicals and
Gilbert & Sullivian operett as.
He graduated from Cleveland High School in 1962,
and went on to University of Oregon, becoming
an avid Duck fan to the end of his days. He joined
Phi Delta Theta fraternity and was in three singing
groups: University Singers (where he met his future
bride, Margaret), Madrigals, and a folk quintet
called the “The Bitt erlicks.”
Tom graduated in 1966 with a degree in history.
But he was really a Renaissance man, having taken
as many literature and science classes as history. His favorite classes were astronomy and
meteorology, which began a lifeti me hobby of studying the moon and the stars, and the
weather.
It was the Vietnam Era, and knowing he would be draft ed, he enlisted in the U.S Army
and spent one year at Fort Knox, Kentucky, graduati ng from Offi cer’s Candidate School
as Second Lieutenant, Armor. He returned to Eugene to marry Margaret Elkins on August
5th, 1967, and two weeks later reported for duty at Fort Huachuca, Arizona. He and
Margaret spent two years there. In additi on to other duti es, Tom ran the Leadership
Preparati on Program; and earned medals for the post commander in pistol shooti ng,
volleyball, and parachuti ng. He received an invitati on to join the Golden Knights, the
army’s elite parachuti ng team, but he turned down the off er because he did not want to
make the army his career.
Tom and Margaret left Fort Huachuca, Arizona the day man walked on the moon: July
20th, 1969. They returned to Oregon and sett led in Portland where Tom began a career
in sales, beginning in management for the J.C Penney Co. and then on to Snap-On Tools,
Industrial Division. He conti nued skydiving into his forti es, playing volleyball through his
fi ft ies, and renewing his passion for downhill skiing.
The greatest event in his adult life was the birth of his daughter, Tonya Rae, in 1972. By
the age of three, he had her skiing in the winter and backpacking in the summer. They
had many adventures, and some misadventures, in the wilderness areas of Mt. Hood, Mt.
Jeff erson and the Three Sisters.
In 1994, the year Tonya graduated from Colorado College, Tom and Margaret moved to
Bend to be near Margaret’s aging parents. Shortly thereaft er
Tom joined the Mt. Bachelor Nati onal Ski Patrol, and was an
acti ve member for 25 years. The last few years he “took off his
cape” and worked behind the scenes, organizing the ski patrol
aid stati ons for Pole, Pedal, Paddle.
The end of May 2020, during the COVID-19 shutdowns, Tom
took a fall and sustained a wound that would not heal. One
complicati on led to another over the next 10 months; and
culminated in a trip to St. Charles Emergency with heart and
lung issues. He was admitt ed to ICU on March 12th, and died
Tuesday morning March 16th, with his wife and daughter at his
bedside.
Tom will be remembered for his sense of humor by a vast
number of friends. He was quite the cook, and had his own
cookbook of secret recipes. He was a voracious reader of fi cti on and non-fi cti on. Of late,
his favorite non-fi cti on was The Boys in the Boat; and fi cti on, All the Light We Cannot See.
He was an inventor of all kinds of gadgets to make a task easier. His wife oft en accused
him of trying to reinvent the wheel.
Tom loved his neighborhood and neighbors of Sunrise Village. He was Christmas Lights
King in the winter, and Osprey Nest Sign Maker in the summer. Tom was a grandfather
fi gure to many of the children. It was not unusual to see a deck full of kids surrounding
Tom on any given summer day. He was very involved with Margaret’s piano studio. He
listened to the students’ progress with a criti cal ear. If he complimented them, they
knew they deserved it. He was so proud of his daughter as he watched her train to be a
competi ti ve long distance runner, among many other accolades.
Tom will also be remembered for the love of his dogs, all ten of them in almost 54 years of
marriage. He is now reunited with eight of them. He left the last two behind to take care
of Margaret, and keep her company.
Deep in December it’s nice to remember
Without a hurt the heart is hollow.
Deep in December our hearts should remember,
And follow...follow, follow, follow, follow.
(Tom’s signature song: Try To Remember, from “The Fantasti cks”)
Tom was preceded in death by his father, Dr. Charles Edward Litt lehales; mother, Catherine
Sewall Litt lehales; and brother, Judge Charles Paul Litt lehales. Tom is survived by his wife,
Margaret Elkins Litt lehales, and daughter, Tonya Litt lehales (Geof Hasegawa) of Bend;
sisters Julia Reid (Russ) of Mercer Island, and Mary Thorsted of Bend; sister-in-law Patti
Benson Litt lehales of Newport; nieces Jodi Litt lehales (Mike Tighe) of Newport/Seatt le,
and Jennifer Litt lehales of LA; nephews Dennis Kirkpatrick(Jill and son, Jack) of Seatt le,
and Todd Thorsted of Portland; and fi rst cousins John, Henry, and Lewis Litt lehales.
The family wishes to thank the Robert Maxwell Veterans’ Clinic staff , and the St. Charles
Emergency and ICU medical teams for going to bat for Tom, alas in a losing game. Tom’s
family and friends were very grateful to Mt. Bachelor Nati onal Ski Patrol for honoring Tom
with a Final Sweep on April 3rd.
Contributi ons in Tom’s name may be made to Central Oregon Humane Society (61170 SE
27th, Bend, OR 97702); or to Mt. Bachelor Sports Educati on Foundati on (2765 NW Lolo
Dr., Bend, OR 97703).
A Celebrati on of Life will take place on August 5th, 2021, at the Sunrise Village Lodge from
4:00-7:00PM.