THE SANTA CRUZ SENTINEL

Santa Cruz, California, U.S.A.

19 June 1952

(page 9)

Explosion Takes Life Of Rocket Expert.

Police Officer Ernie Hovard examines scene of an explosion in a garage laboratory at Pasadena, Calif. (6-17) that took the life of John W. Parsons [Jack Parsons], 31, a rocket propulsion expert. In a tragic aftermath, his grieving mother, Mrs. Ruth Virginia Parsons, died from what police said was an overdose of sleeping pills. The explosion apparently was touched off when Parsons accidentally dropped some bottled explosives he was packing for a trip into Mexico.