TOLEDO, Ohio — Toledo City Council unanimously voted on Tuesday to approve renaming the Toledo Express Airport after NASA flight director Gene Kranz.
At this time, no timeline has been given as to when the name change will go into effect.
"I've had an opportunity to do a little bit of research about Mr. Kranz and I was just excited about the idea that we are going to name our airport after him because of all of the things that he has done for our country, in the Apollo ship that he basically brought back home, almost single-handedly but with the help of a team," Toledo City Council Member Gary Johnson said.
Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszkiewicz first announced the plan on the Scott Sands Show on WSPD radio back in August.
Kranz was born on Aug. 17, 1933, in Toledo, and graduated from Central Catholic High School in 1951. Kranz credited his teachers for giving him the education, enthusiasm and skills necessary to be successful at his job with NASA.
Central Catholic was the recipient of Kranz's NASA-bestowed Ambassador of Exploration Award, which he gave to the school in 2007. The award has a piece of the moon encased in lucite.
Kranz married Marta Cardena, and the couple had six children. Marta made for Gene what became known as his signature waistcoats by hand. Starting with the Gemini 4 mission, he wore a new vest for each mission. The Smithsonian has the vest he wore during the tense return of Apollo 13.