NORTH VERNON — A public celebration Saturday of the Jennings County Community Foundation’s 25th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing will have extra special meaning for one county native.
Steve Elsner spent his days in Jennings County before embarking on a long career with NASA, the space agency that oversaw the Apollo program. He’s also a current board member with the foundation, an organization with which he has familial and emotional ties.
Now, after retiring from 33 years of service as a civilian aerospace engineer at the Johnson Space Center in Houston, Elsner routinely travels from his home there to Jennings County to spend time helping the community in which he grew up.
“I am very blessed. Most if the world doesn’t get to live like this. Houston is the fourth-largest city in the nation and my life there is very different than life is like here. Life here is very real. I enjoy it very much,” Elsner said, with a smile.
The son of Oscar and Evelyn Elsner, Steve Elsner attended Hayden Elementary School and graduated from Jennings County High School in 1976. He graduated from the University of Notre Dame with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in aerospace engineering.
He joined NASA in 1982, and worked in several areas, including working on the development of the International Space Station. He last served as space shuttle guidance and control officer in Mission Control.
During his time at NASA, Elsner saw many changes as the world of technology and space exploration advanced. He noted, for example, that smartphones probably have more information technology capability than the Apollo-era aircraft.
“When I graduated from college, going to work in the space program meant being on the NASA team. When I left in 2015, students now have the choice of working for Space X, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic and other companies that are doing spectacular things off the planet,” Elsner said.
President Kennedy’s goal, set in 1961, to send Americans to the moon by the end of the ‘60s was audacious, Elsner said, and many wondered if it was achievable and too risky.
“(After Kennedy’s death) men and women across America rose to the challenge and achieved one of the greatest technological feats of history,” Elsner said.
Home again
After he retired from NASA in 2015, Elsner began traveling to Jennings County frequently to spend time with his parents. His mother died unexpectedly in December 2017, and his father died suddenly only months later.
“Both my mother and my father were from families of 10 children, and I have 100 first cousins. A good portion of them still live in this area. My brothers are here and my sister is not far. I belong here. It is still a part of me,” Elsner said.
Flying back and forth from Houston, Elsner estimates he now spends about 20 percent of his life in Jennings County.
“For now, when I am here, I actually live in the same house where I grew up. What an experience that is. Things here seem new but they are also familiar. Things seem different but somehow the same,” Elsner said.
A good portion of Elsner’s time in Jennings is spent with the Jennings County Community Foundation, serving on the board of directors.
He first became aware of the foundation in 1995, when his brother, Dan, was killed in an auto crash. Dan’s widow, Marie, was a founding member of the foundation, and the Elsner family established a scholarship fund in Dan’s memory. The fund is still in existence today.
New mission
“The foundation does so much good work here. I am back here to help. I want the kids here to know that the future is theirs, too. There are many good things here and there are also good things in the world beyond. They can have it all if they just get their education and make the best of it,” Elsner said.
When he is in Houston, he spends his time with sons Adam and Elliott, and is also involved in a variety of community service projects.
“I loved my time with NASA, but when I left there I felt it was time to do something different. I had been in the world of science and logic, and I wanted to work in the land of the heart, and I am really enjoying working in community service,” Elsner said.
A current Houston project for Elsner is working to help men who have been in the military, prison or other situations to re-enter the work force.
“It is just so rewarding to see the change come over someone when they put on a new suit of clothes and get ready to go someplace and do something to help make things better for themselves. I love community service,” Elsner said.
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What: Summer Fun Fest
When: 3 to 10 p.m. Saturday
Where: Stellar Plaza in downtown North Vernon
Why: To celebrate the Community Foundation of Jennings County’s 25th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of man’s landing on the moon
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