Despard was born on 2 JAN 1929 in Oxnard, Ventura County, California, the son of Despard Archer Humphrys and Eva Mae Fishel.
His wife was Margaret Loretta Norman, who he married on 19 FEB 1955 in Epiphany Church, Detroit, Wayne County, Michigan. Their ten known children were Michael (Private) (1955-?), Kathleen Marie (Private) (1957-?), Margaret Mary (Private) (1958-?), James Despard (Private) (1960-?), Sharon Therese (Private) (1961-?), Mary Elizabeth (Private) (1961-?), Debra Maureen (Private) (1963-?), Janette Rosemary (Private) (1964-?), John Barry Despard (Private) (1966-?) and David Despard (Private) (1968-?).
| Event | Date | Details | Source | Multimedia | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth | 2 JAN 1929 |
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Note 1
!Notes: Despard graduated from Loyola High School in Los Angeles, California, in 1946 and attended East Los Angeles Community College from 1946 to 1949. In 1957-58, he studied to be an electrical technician at National Schools in Los Angeles. As a Journeyman Electrical Technical, he worked for Lockheed Missle and Space Company from 1963 to 1975. From '63 to '68 he was at the Western Missle Test Range, Vandenberg Air Force Base, near Lampoc, California, where he launched missles. In 1969, he was at Dobbins Air Force Base near Smyrna, Georgia, where he worked on the largest airplane ever made, the C5-A. From 1969-75, he was at the Eastern Missle Test Range at Cape Canaveral, Florda, where he worked on all but the first moon shot. He then worked for Lapeer Fabricators in Lapeer.
!P: Despard served in the United States Navy from 1950 to 1954, during the Korean War. In '50 to '52, he was stationewd aboard the U.S.S. H. W. Tucker Radar Destroyer, in the Fleet Marines, 1st Marine Division. In 1953, he served in Korea and was in Japan in 1953 and 1954.
!P: Despard likes to fish and hunt and go camping. He is a "gentleman farmer" on their 70 acres of land, 17 miles north of Lapeer.