Gary Daigle

Gary Daigle, of Orlando, Florida passed away on Monday, March 15, 2021 at the age of 72. He was born on March 31, 1948 in Portland, Maine.

Growing up in Maine, Gary was interested in the fledgling U.S. space program. At the time of the Apollo 1 fire in January 1967, he was working delivering beer up and down the coast of Maine. By the time of the Apollo 11 moon landing in July 1969, he was serving in the U.S. Air Force and entrenched in Technical School at Lowry AFB in Denver, Colorado. When the Apollo 13 crew safely returned to earth in 1970, he was repairing the Weapon Control System components on the F4-E Phantoms jet aircraft at Homestead AFB. Gary was stationed at Korat Royal Thai AFB from November 1970 until November 1971.

When his tour in the Air Force ended in August 1972, he was married to his wife, Angela, and enrolled in the Electronic Technology program at Miami-Dade Community College. He remembers the thrill of watching Apollo 17 light up the early morning sky in December 1972. The view was spectacular even from as far away as Bayfront Park in Homestead, FL. In 1974 Gary and Angela moved to Orlando to be closer to her family. His son, David, was born in January 1976.

In January 1978, Gary began his career at the Kennedy Space Center as a calibration technician for Bionetics Corporation, a prime contractor to NASA in support of the new manned space vehicle, the Space Shuttle. At the time, Gary was studying Engineering at Florida Technological University in Orlando. FTU's goal was to provide personnel to support the Space Center. As the university's scope expanded to encompass other disciplines, the school was renamed the University of Central Florida in 1978. Gary took a job as an Engineer with Bionetics in October 1980 and he graduated from UCF in December 1981.

Gary was very proud to have contributed to U.S. manned space flight for 31 years, until his retirement in September 2009.

Gary was a devoted husband, father, grandfather, and son-in-law. He was always willing to volunteer his time to youth baseball and other activities, and he provided David with great childhood memories of weekends spent canoeing the Wekiva River and Rock Springs Run, camping in the Ocala National Forest, summer vacations on Peabody Pond in Maine, and the Space Shuttle.

Gary is survived by his beloved wife of 48 years, Angela Daigle; their son, David Daigle and his wife, Amy; and grandchildren, Jessica Daigle and Ally Daigle. He is also survived by his siblings, Karen Bernard, Sandy Brown, and Jeff Daigle.

Visitation is Sunday, March 21, 2021 from 2:00 pm to 6:00 pm with a funeral service at 6:00 pm at Newcomer Cremations, Funerals & Receptions - East Orlando, 895 S. Goldenrod Road, Orlando, Florida 32822.

To view the funeral service at 6:00 pm on Sunday, March 21, 2021 please click here to join the livestream.
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Meeting ID: 1485364640

Gary will be interred with military honors at Cape Canaveral National Cemetery on Tuesday, April 6, 2021.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to AdventHealth Hospice Care in Gary's name.

To share your memories of Gary or leave a special condolence message for his family, please visit the guestbook below.