Dr. Richard Earl Morningstar

Dr. Richard Earl Morningstar

Cedar Rapids

Dr. Richard Earl Morningstar, BSME, PhD Engineering Management, age 89, passed away peacefully November 5, 2025, at Keystone Cedars in Cedar Rapids, with his wife, Judy, by his side. Funeral services will be at Cedar Memorial Park Chapel of Memories on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, at 11:00 AM, with visitation one hour before services.

Richard was born January 16, 1936, in Cedar Rapids, the son of Gilbert and Evelyn (Candler) Morningstar. Survivors include his wife, Judith of Cedar Rapids; two sons, Michael and Steven (Debbe) and grandson, Thomas, of the Los Angeles area; also stepson, Scott Witherell (France) and family of Minnesota; sisters, Donna (Tom) Ritchey of New London, Iowa and Constance Morningstar (Victor Alexander), sister-In-law, Terri Morningstar of Cedar Rapids; and nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his parents and brother, David; all of Cedar Rapids.

He graduated from Wilson High School in Cedar Rapids in 1954 and earned an engineering degree from the University of Iowa in 1959. As a senior at the U of I, he accepted a job offer from North American Aviation (N.A.A.) and he and his then-wife, Ardith, moved to Los Angeles. While at N.A.A. he worked in the Tri-Sonic wind tunnel. After leaving N.A.A., he accepted a position at Parker Aircraft to work on the design and test of valves for the Valkyrie Bomber and later joined Weber Aircraft, in Burbank, to work on various aircraft components.

In 1963, Richard joined Space Technology Labs in Redondo Beach and began work on the Apollo Program Lunar Module descent engine. After a short while, he became the Lead Engineer on the design of this unique throttleable rocket engine that landed the astronauts on the moon. He often stated his concern that a lot of his hardware was left to litter the Moon when the astronauts returned to Earth. To this day there are six of the engines that he and his team designed, on the moon. Later when Space Technology became TRW Space and Defense he headed up design and management efforts on many propulsion systems and components used on Air Force, NASA, and commercial satellites. While at TRW he authored and co-authored technical papers for the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics. He retired from TRW in 1992. He received the Chairman’s Award for innovation for the “Dual Mode Liquid Apogee Rocket Engine”, an effort for which he was project manager. He received an Apollo II award from NASA for his involvement in the Manned Moon Landing. He also received recognition for being a frequent volunteer for the American Red Cross office in Southern California.

In 2000, he divorced and moved back to Iowa from Southern California where he had previously lived for 41 years. He married Judith (Thomas) Witherell in 2001. Then in 2007, he earned a PhD in Engineering Management. His doctoral dissertation was entitled “High Technology Project Management Problems and Mitigating Solutions.”

Richard enjoyed fly fishing with friends in the streams and lakes of the Sierra Mountains and he enjoyed trips to the Rogue River in Oregon for steelhead fishing. In Iowa, his sister Constance was his fishing companion.

Richard’s family offers a Special “Thank You” to the entire staff at Keystone Cedars.

He loved the Lord and did his best to serve Him. He will be greatly missed by all who knew and loved him. Online condolences may be directed to the family at www.cedarmemorial.com under Obituaries.