Gladyce Cornelius Enjoyably Looks Back on Her 100 Years of Life
Legacy Village of Jacksonville, a premier assisted living and memory care facility serving Jacksonville, Al., celebrated the 100th birthday of Gladyce Cornelius on January 21, 2023. In honor of such a momentous milestone, Legacy Village asked Gladyce to share a few of her favorite life experiences and memories.
One of Gladyce’s favorite times as a family was when her husband was stationed in Europe in the late 1940s. Formerly stationed at Ft. McClellan in Alabama and Ft. Benning in Georgia, the Corneliuses took advantage of their time overseas, exploring new countries on weekends with their three children.
Upon their arrival back stateside, Gladyce received word that the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Ala. was hiring. Together, Gladyce and her husband made the trip to the center and were hired on the spot. So began Gladyce’s career of 25 years (1960-1985) as a Contract Administrator in the Procurement Office for NASA. Gladyce was a part of the team who worked on building the F1 Engine, which was under a secret contract at the time. She worked on the F1 Engine Contract for a span of ten years as the team found contractors, and designed, and built the engine.
Gladyce loved every minute of her time with NASA, working with amazing people in a fun and enjoyable environment. She recalls having to work many weekends and holidays, but that it never bothered her as she loved her job so much. One of the greatest moments of her career was meeting Dr. Wernher von Braun from NASA, who approached her and told her that he appreciated the hard work she was putting in on the F1 Engine Contract.