Born in Lacey’s Spring, Alabama, Bonnie G. Holmes was educated at Eva High School and earned a bachelor’s degree from the Andrew Jackson Business University in Nashville, Tennessee in 1948. After brief service with the Alabama State Pardon and Parole Board and Nehi Corporation in Columbus, Georgia, Holmes started her career at Redstone Arsenal in October 1951 with the Army Post Engineer Division. Just six months later, she transferred to the Army’s Guided Missile Development Program in the position of secretary to Dr. Wernher von Braun – a position she kept until his transfer to Washington D.C. in 1970. Holmes served as secretary and personal assistant to three more center directors including Dr. Eberhard Rees, Dr. Rocco Petrone, and Dr. William Lucas.
Once, when asked about her job, Holmes noted that “screening the mountain of correspondence which arrives daily is a major task, with letters varying from requests for technical scientific information to fan mail from grade school students.” Holmes credited that correspondence with keeping her “informed on important events and persons in the space field all over the world.” Holmes’ career comprised numerous highlights including serving as usher for President Dwight Eisenhower’s September 1960 visit to the center and traveling to Cape Canaveral in 1961 where she witnessed the historic launch of Alan Shepard aboard a Mercury-Redstone launch vehicle on May 5, 1961. Holmes retired from Marshall in 1978.
This photo of Bonnie G. Holmes was taken at Marshall in the early 1970s.
Image credit: NASA