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Cecil L. Cline, 86, of Mooresville, passed away on Thursday, March 16, 2017 at Gordon Hospice House. He was born on May 3, 1930 in Mohawk, McDowell County, W. VA, the third of twelve children born to the late Leck and Lillian Lester Cline. In addition to his parents, he was preceded in death by his brothers, William, Leonard, Bernard, Steve and Troy Cline; sisters, Thelma, Jean and Ruth. He served four years in the US Army and was a Purple Heart Veteran of the Korean War. After his discharge he attended The Ohio State University and fulfilled a boyhood dream of obtaining a degree in engineering. He did graduate work in Metallurgy at the University of Tennessee while employed at the Nuclear Weapons Plant at Oak Ridge. He was recruited by Lockheed Missiles and Space Company in Sunnyvale, California where he was instrumental in developing advanced manufacturing technology and procedures to resolve problems associated with the manufacture of the Air Force Agena spacecraft, the Navy Polaris Ballistic Weapons System, and the NASA Saturn 5 launch vehicle. He was a Project Engineer responsible for developing some of the manufacturing procedures for the Navy Deep Sea Rescue Vehicle (DSRV). As a result of his work in developing advanced manufacturing technology that was required in the space program, he often received invitations to address national meeting of various engineering groups. He wrote several technical articles that were published in engineering journals and rapidly gained a reputation as a top aerospace research engineer, though his employment by Lockheed, Cecil was under contract to the NASA Manned Spacecraft Center to develop some of the procedures that were used in the building of the giant Saturn V rocket, which was the launch vehicle for the Apollo 11 moon landing. He subsequently became an engineering manager for the Lockheed-Georgia Company, Marietta, Georgia. After leaving the aerospace industry, he was Production Manager for Dorsey Trailers, in Elba, Alabama and Assistant Works Manager for American Car and Foundry in Huntington, West Virginia. Cecil owned and operated businesses in Huntington, West Virginia and Marietta, Georgia. Cecil was a lifelong member of the Southern Baptist Church serving as a Sunday school teacher, Deacon, and chairman of various committees. He had a passion for serving with the NC Baptist Men Disaster Relief organization. He made two trips to Germany on a Baptist Men’s project to build a church and one trip to Sri Lanka after the tsunami disaster. He was a founding member of Trinity Baptist Church of Mooresville, North Carolina. Cecil and his wife Rebecca, a native of Greensboro, moved from Naples, Florida to the Lake Norman area in 2000. He is survived by his loving wife, Becky Tilley Cline; daughters, Deborah and husband, Dr. William Hartkopf, of Kensington, MD; Beverly and husband, Charles Chappell, of Kennesaw, GA; grandsons, Christopher and Alan Chappell; granddaughter, Jennifer Chappell; great granddaughters, Sara and Allison Chappell all of Kennesaw, GA and Brianna and Topher Chappell of Acworth, GA; sisters, Della Paul of Warner Robbins, GA and Freda and husband, Vincent Welch of Cantonment, FL. ; a special loving stepson, Jeffrey Cole and wife, Lisa of Greensboro, NC. Cecil and Becky served as surrogate grandparents for Sammy and Savannah Lucktong; numerous cousins, nephews, and nieces are scattered throughout the US. Funeral services will be held at 11:00 AM, on Monday, March 20, 2017, at Trinity Baptist Church with Rev. Dr. Robert Jackson officiating. The body will lie in state 30 minutes prior to the service at the church. Burial with military honors will follow the service at Lakeview Memorial Cemetery in Greensboro, NC, at 3:00 PM. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to Trinity Baptist Church Building Fund, 221 Ervin Rd., Mooresville, NC 28117 and/or Peninsula Baptist Church, 687 Brawley School Rd., Mooresville, NC 28117 and/or Wounded Warrior Project, P. O. Box 758517, Topeka, Kansas 66675. Cavin-Cook Funeral Home, Mooresville, is serving the Cline family. Condolences may be made to the family at cavin-cook.com.

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Cecil Lee Cline

May 3, 1930 - March 16, 2017