Jesse Lytle

Jesse Walter Lytle, loving husband and father, passed away the evening of Monday September 28th  2020, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s. He was 84.

Jess was born on November 3rd, 1935 in Bavaria KS to Eula E. (Harbison) and Gilbert W. Lytle. He graduated Haven High School in 1953 and met his wife Evelyn (Hollingsworth) on a blind date that same year. In 1955 he and his friend Phil Brashire decided to take a trip out to California. While there, he proposed to Evelyn over the phone and she came out to Los Angeles where they promptly were married on July 3rd, 1956.

Drafted in the army in 1959, when he returned, he found work back in CA in the aerospace industry. He was working as a foreman on the floor when some men in suits asked him to come in and give a talk to some visitors about the compound mercury. The visitors were from NASA and so began Jess’s adventure in the space program.

Some of the more notable contributions to the program, with his team:

• He designed the tools and the system used to gather samples from the lunar surface on the Apollo flight 11- the first moon landing in 1969;
• He built the flagpole currently on the moon and flying the United States flag;
• He built the rear wheels on the lunar rover;  

Jess has been honored by NASA with the Silver Snoopy award and asked to be a guest viewer for the launch of Apollo 11. He was also gifted the bolts used in device for an exploratory mission to see if the moon was habitable.

After the family moved to Riverside, CA Jess went on to start his own business – JW Lytle Inc, a machine shop in Corona CA. His company was a family affair as Evelyn did the books and daughter Kim worked on the floor from time to time. He worked on many varying projects during the duration and the company stayed in business, successfully for many years.

After his retirement at 65 he and Evelyn became very active. They took ballroom dance classes, Spanish lessons, and joined a bowling league, among other things.

They then sold the house in Riverside and moved to a retirement community in Sun City, AZ. They continued to be active in the community, joining rec centers and making friends. Jess became the president of the local machinists’ club. They also bought a 5th wheel and enjoyed travelling wherever they could.

In 2012 he was honored by his high school alma mater for his work in the space program with a ceremony and a plaque on their ‘Wall of Honor’.  

When Jess’s health began to decline, they moved to Santa Barbara CA to be closer to their girls.

Jess will always be known for his smile, his ease to laugh, and his ability to always solve a problem. 

He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Evelyn, his daughters Kim (David) Rocha, Leanne (Christopher) Ackler and Cherilyn (Padraic Culham) Lytle, his 6 grandchildren and 5 great-grandchildren, his brothers Orville (Bud), Robert Gail, and sister Susan. He is preceded by his sisters Audie, Connie, Betty and Iona.