Exactly one hour from our house, on our route to most places, inhabits the King of the Missions.

I love when I meet someone at a cemetery. Today, I was delighted to be introduced to the Shicks. Ralph Shick, an aerodynamicist for Vultee Aircraft Corporation, was instrumental in perfecting the Delta Wing for supersonic flight. Early in the development phase engineers discovered during wind tunnel tests that the highly swept, narrow-chord wing was very unstable. Mr. Shick suggested a solution, “Why don’t we just fill in the area between the two wing tips?” He hypothesized that changing to a single, triangle-shaped wing would generate more stability and control. He was right.

His wife was famous in her own right. Marjorie Kelly Shick was a tobacco farmer's daughter from rural Ontario Canada. In 1951, she won the title of Miss Canada. She was also a very talented opera singer who had the opportunity to sing with a then unknown, Plácido Domingo. What an interesting life these two led. I would not know of them if I had not seen their memorial. Interesting!

“Every life holds an epic tale, even if no one alive remembers it.” ― Greg Melville