Annie Glenn, Famed Astronaut ’s Widow, Dies of Coronavirus Complications at Age 100

(COLUMBUS, Ohio) — Annie Glenn, wife of the late astronaut and U.S. Sen. John Glenn who overcame a childhood stutter to become an advocate for others with speech disorders, died Tuesday of complications from COVID-19. She was 100. Glenn died at a nursing home near St. Paul, Minnesota, where she’d moved in recent years to be near her daughter, said Hank Wilson, a spokesman for the Glenn College of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University. NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine also announced Glenn’s death, the latest among centenarians succumbing rapidly to the new coronavirus. John Glenn died in 2016 following an extraordinary career that included breaking the transcontinental speed record, becoming the first American to orbit Earth and serving as a Democratic U.S. senator from Ohio. At the time of his death, he and Annie had been married 73 years. The relationship was “the stuff of fairy tales and one of the great love stories of all time,” Dale Butland, the senator’s former speechwriter and chief of staff, said in a statement Tuesday. “During WW II, the Korean war and two flights into outer space, Annie patiently waited for her John to come home,” Butland said. “Since December of 2016, John’s been patiently waiting for his Annie. Today, they’re both where they always wanted to be: together — for all eternity.” Annie Glenn was thrust into the spotlight in 1962, when her husband made his famous spac...
Source: TIME: Science - Category: Science Authors: Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 News Desk remembrance wire Source Type: news