[Congressional Record Volume 153, Number 74 (Monday, May 7, 2007)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E973-E974]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     RECOGNIZING THE LIFE OF ASTRONAUT WALTER M. ``WALLY'' SCHIRRA

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colorado

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 7, 2007

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Madam Speaker, today I rise to recognize the 
life of one of our great space pioneers, Walter M. ``Wally'' Schirra.
  Schirra was one of the original seven Mercury Astronauts and the only 
Astronaut to fly in all three of the earliest manned space programs: 
Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. During one of his missions, Schirra 
conducted the first rendezvous of manned spacecraft in orbit, 
considered one of the most challenging tasks in space flight at the 
time.
  Schirra was a great astronaut and a great American. What many of my 
colleagues may not realize is that Schirra became an active businessman 
and citizen in Colorado after retiring from the space program. I and my 
fellow Coloradans will miss him. For the benefit of my colleagues, I 
have attached an article from the Rocky Mountain News about Schirra's 
impact in Colorado.

              [From the Rocky Mountain News, May 4, 2007]

                      Astronaut Left Mark on State

               (By John C. Ensslin, Rocky Mountain News)

       Walter M. ``Wally'' Schirra had a long career in Colorado 
     as a businessman, civic activist and environmental consultant 
     in the decade after he retired as an astronaut.
       And like two of his fellow astronauts, John Glenn and Scott 
     Carpenter, he also lived part of the year near Vail, where 
     his daughter Suzanne had been an artist.
       In one of his last public appearances in Colorado, Schirra, 
     an avid horseman, took part in a ceremony celebrating an 
     exhibition of cowboy hats at the Buffalo Bill Memorial 
     Museum. The show included Schirra's hat, which sported 
     drawings of trout and elk and pins from range rides he had 
     gone on.
       ``He was very personable, very accessible, very down to 
     earth,'' said Steve Friesen, the museum director. ``He was a 
     regular guy, but at the same time I had the feeling of 
     standing next to someone who was a major part of history in 
     my life. It was pretty cool.''
       Schirra moved to Denver shortly after leaving NASA in March 
     1969. He became president of Regency Investors, a subsidiary 
     of Denver financier John M. King.
       He later split from King to form his own company, 
     Environmental Control Corp., which later became part of 
     another company called Semco Inc. The firm worked on 
     environmental impact studies for projects such as a coal 
     gasification plant in Wyoming.

[[Page E974]]

       He was an avid sportsman. In October 1973, Schirra was part 
     of a group that purchased 29 acres west of Fort Morgan near 
     the Platte River for use as a sportsman's club.
       He also once hosted a television series called The Outdoor 
     Life. In May 1978, he was named host of a weekly public 
     affairs television program on then KOA Channel 4 called Scope 
     with Wally Schirra.
       Schirra was active in Colorado Republican politics. In 
     1972, he was master of ceremonies for a downtown Denver rally 
     for then-Vice President Spiro Agnew. In 1979, he was an 
     honorary chairman for Ronald Reagan's presidential campaign 
     in Colorado.
       In the early 1970s, his civic work included crusades for 
     the Colorado chapter of the American Cancer Society to an 
     organizing committee that tried unsuccessfully to bring the 
     winter Olympics to Colorado.

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