vailsymposium

Laura Shepard Churchley was born in Wilmington, DE. She is the eldest daughter of Rear Admiral Alan B. Shepard Jr. Laura lives in Evergreen, CO with her husband, Frederick William Churchley, III.

As the daughter of Alan B. Shepard, the first American in space and the first to hit a golf ball on the surface of the moon (on Apollo 14), Churchley makes presentations to school students, donning her father‘s flight suit and showing artifacts that have traveled to the moon and back. She thinks space travel is essential for expanding man’s horizons and for encouraging innovation. She would like to see more attention paid to US space endeavors in the future.

As you might guess, Churchley is active in the space and astronaut community to promote what her father started. She is currently the Chair of the Astronaut Scholarship Foundation Board of Trustees at Kennedy Space Center, FL. This foundation raises funds for college students and provides mentoring to these scholars who are pursuing careers and research in the science fields.

Churchley is an honorary consultant to the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium, a lifetime member of the Society of Sponsors for the United States Navy.  She served six years as a Board Member of the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center foundation in Hutchinson, Kansas and she served on the Astronaut Memorial Foundation Board at Kennedy Space Center, FL.

In her local community, Churchley has been a retail business owner and a board member of the Evergreen Chamber of Commerce, Evergreen Arts Foundation, Hiwan Homeowners Association and the Montessori School of Evergreen Board of Directors. She is a charter member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Mountain Rendezvous chapter, and a former president of the Hiwan Women’s Golf Association. Churchley is a member of PEO and has served as president, treasure and chaplain. She enjoys golfing, embroidery, snow and water skiing, travel and photography. Her husband Fred and she, combined, have six grown children and eight grandchildren.