Obituary of Louis Angelo DeLuca Sr

Louis “Lou” Angelo DeLuca Sr., 93, passed away Sunday, January 12, 2020. He is preceded in death by his parents, Louis and Fannie DeLuca; his loving wife, Vera DeLuca; daughter, Nicolette DeLuca; and sister, Dolores Meyer. Left to cherish his memory are his son, Louis DeLuca Jr. and wife, Dinah; daughter, Linda Billman and husband, Douglas; grandchildren, Amanda, Anthony, Jade, Fuyang, Sara, Ryan, Gary, Sarah, Cade, Cameron and Ashli; great grandchildren, Conor, Hunter, Peighton, Caydence, Avery, Bralynn, Adrian, Myles, Caleb and Baylee; and a host of other family and dear friends. As a young man Lou enlisted in the US Navy and served in World War II in the Philippines. After the war he started working for Philco, which led to an opportunity to work for the budding USA Space Program in the 1960s. He moved his family to La Porte, a suburb of Houston, and went to work for NASA at the Johnson Space Center in Clear Lake. He played an active part in the historic space program, as a flight controller for the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions, as well as the Skylab, Spacelab and Space Shuttle programs. Lou retired from NASA in 1992, and devoted the rest of his life to Vera, the kids and their children. Lou loved his grandchildren and cherished spending time with them, whether they were going to the zoo, theme parks, or playgrounds. Lou believed strongly in staying active. As a youth and young adult, he was an accomplished roller skate performer. He teamed up with his future wife Vera to teach roller skating, and performed in many shows with her around the Detroit metro area. Lou loved baseball and was a fan of his hometown Detroit Tigers. Later he would coach baseball for many years in the La Porte youth baseball program. As an older adult, Lou took up karate and was an active member in a Johnson Space Center chapter. Lou had an amazing analytical mind and could fix or build just about anything. He took great pride in rebuilding two 1960s-era Ford Mustangs for Louis and Linda’s first cars. He built Heathkit-brand radios, televisions and an organ for his family’s use, and was also an accomplished woodworker. He will forever be remembered for his kindness and generosity, as well as his easygoing and happy personality. Lou will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him. In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donation be made to the Lymphoma society of America at www.lls.org Services for Lou will be held Saturday, January 18, 2020 at Clayton Funeral Home, 201 South 3rd Street, La Porte, Texas 77571. The visitation will be held from 12:30 until 1:30 pm with the funeral beginning at 1:30 pm. Interment will follow at Grand View Memorial Park in Pasadena, Texas.