Marie M. Landers; Worked on Missiles

Marie Mabel Landers of Oxnard, an aerospace worker who helped assemble the Atlas and Centaur missiles, has died. She was 86.

Landers was born in Ripley, N.Y., on Jan. 4, 1911. Soon after the end of World War I, she left school in the ninth grade to support her family. She soon moved to Pennsylvania, where she met and married her husband, Walter. Landers worked at jobs as diverse as rolling cigars and making candy to building refrigerators for General Electric.

“She was an amazing woman, highly skilled and very independent,” said her son, Walter R. Landers of Oxnard.

In 1956, Landers moved to California to be with her son, who was stationed with the U. S. Navy in Long Beach. She immediately found work in the aerospace industry.

“Her first job was working on the fire shield of the Atlas missile,” Walter Landers said. “She was a fantastic precision solderer.”

In 1969, Landers retired due to severe arthritis. She filled her time with gardening and, when her hands were limber enough, knitting. She also shared her son’s passion for trains.

“We used to go all over, chasing trains, steam engines in particular,” said her son, who is her only survivor. “We took photos and rode behind them. She loved trains and was a model railroader as well.”

A private service will be held in Pennsylvania later this month. Arrangements are under the direction of Pierce Brothers Stetler Mortuary, Santa Paula.