Jim Lovell

James Arthur Lovell Jr. (March 25, 1928 – August 7, 2025) was an American NASA astronaut and test pilot. He was pilot of the Apollo 8 and commander of the Apollo 13 mission. Crew of Apollo 13 mission failed to land on Moon because of loss of electric power and failure of both oxygen tanks due to technical problems. Because of efforts of crew and ground control room, all three astronauts aboard Apollo 13 returned to Earth safely. He was the first person to first person to fly into space four times.^[1]

Lovell in 1969

James Arthur Lovell Jr. was born in Cleveland, Ohio. He was raised in Terre Haute, Indiana and Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Lovell retired from the Navy and the space program on March 1, 1973, and went to work at the Bay-Houston Towing Company in Houston, Texas,^[2] taking on the role of CEO in 1975. He became president of Fisk Telephone Systems in 1977,^[3] and later worked for Centel Corporation in Chicago, retiring as an executive vice president on January 1, 1991.^[4]

His wife, Marilyn Lovell, died in August 2023.^[5] They were married in 1952.^[6]

After the death of Frank Borman on November 7, 2023, Lovell became the oldest living former astronaut.^[7]

After the death of Bill Anders on June 7, 2024, Lovell became the last surviving crew member of Apollo 8.

Lovell died on August 7, 2025 in Lake Forest, Illinois at the age of 97.^[8]