U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colorado — The US Air Force Academy held a funeral service Friday morning for its first graduate to become an astronaut. Retired Colonel Karol Bobko, affectionately known as Bo, died on August 17 at his home in California.
Bobko piloted the Space Shuttle Challenger on its maiden voyage in April of 1983 and served as commander on missions aboard the Space Shuttles Atlantis and Discovery in 1985.
He was assigned as an astronaut to the Air Force's Manned Orbiting Laboratory Program in 1966. He'd previously flown the F-100 and F-105 fighter jets for the Air Force while assigned to squadrons in New Mexico and North Carolina.
Bobko was born in Brooklyn and was a member of the Inaugural Class of 1959 at the Air Force Academy.
"He was my smartest roommate, and my roommate with the greatest sense of humor," recalled Retired Colonel Max Miller.
The campus was still under construction at the time. So, cadets lived at and attended classes at Lowry Air Force Base in Denver, Miller explained.
It was here that Bobko met his wife Dianne Welsh.
"Family has been such a solid piece of his life," said Patrice Welsh Benjamin, Bobko's Sister-in-Law. "I think that gave him the courage and the support to be able to do all the things that he did."
Miller and Welsh Benjamin both described Bobko as a very humble person. He would tell people he worked at NASA if they asked. However, it took effort for him to disclose he was an astronaut.
"I'm not sure that they would've thought that this occasion would be as full of recognition as it is simply because he was soft-spoken and not at all arrogant," said Welsh Benjamin.
"Bo was never a braggart. He was quiet, never said much," Miller recalled.
That quiet personality also earned him respect and admiration from those he worked with and those who loved him.
Bobko is survived by Dianne, his daughter Michelle, his son Paul, and his brother Peter. He was 85.
____
Watch KOAA News5 on your time, anytime with our free streaming app available for your Roku, FireTV, AppleTV and Android TV. Just search KOAA News5, download and start watching.
