LTC. John Reid Kettering had a life-long fascination with space and flight. He studied Mechanical Engineering with an Aerospace concentration at Purdue University, obtaining a BSME degree in 1963 before he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the US Army, Air Defense Artillery Branch. He went on to complete advanced studies at the Air Defense School at Fort Bliss, Texas, and then to the University of Texas at El Paso where he earned a graduate degree in Mechanical Engineering with missile and satellite emphasis.

With that educational preparation he assumed command of a Nike missile site, then worked on testing the Chaparral missile system, and finally did advanced analysis and modeling while on the Air Defense Board. During that period, he was also able to obtain a pilot's license through the Ft. Bliss flying club and loved flying over the area's deserts and mountains. After serving a year in both Korea and Vietnam, he went to work on satellite systems for the US Air Force at the Space and Missile Systems Organization. During his leisure time, he built a large telescope as part of his continuing love of the vast area beyond the earth. After retiring from the military, LTC Kettering worked in the field with private sector organizations. From looking in his telescope to flying a few thousand feet above to earth to designing and testing systems that served us in space, flight and space were his passion.

LTC Kettering died in 1995 and is interred in Arlington National Cemetery. He is survived by two daughters, Karen L. Kettering and Kristin Kettering Foschi and five grandchildren. He would be pleased to know that the grandchildren he barely knew or had not met before his death are carrying on the tradition of service. They are Lt. Peter Foschi (CRO-USAF), Erika Foschi (Fordham Univ.), MIDN Michael Foschi (USNA), Paige Foschi (Drexel Univ.), and William Foschi (ME student at U of MD with a special interest in space and flight). LTC Kettering's family is honoring him in 2016 with this place on the Air and Space Honor Wall.