Scholarship Group: Memorial or Tribute

Paco was the beloved cat of Homer Hickam who lived with him throughout all of Homer’s NASA years. He was a sweet cat who always made everyone feel good any time he was around. During Homer’s many months away from home to train astronauts, Paco was taken care of by the Paco Support Team (PST) who dearly loved him. One of them was Homer’s future wife Linda. During a Spacelab mission, Paco comforted a lonely astronaut while she was in orbit by talking to her and therefore became the first cat to meow in space. Paco passed away when he was 18 years old and is still missed by the PST but all are happy that a young person will attend Space Camp on a scholarship named after this prodigious cat.

Family members of fallen military service members (all branches: Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, Coast Guard, Air National Guard, National Guard, and all The aforementioned branches reserves), and family members of any fallen first responders, Police, Fire, Ambulance/EMT/Paramedic. Preference will be given to immediate family members, but non-immediate family members (grandchildren, nephews/nieces, cousins, etc.) are encouraged to apply.

Stanley developed a love for outer space and the stars at a very young age. The unknown always interested him and he would talk to anyone about it that would listen. He was accepted into a college program through his school district at the College Center, for his high school career. This is where he would really start to blossom and would start an astronomy club.

Though the club did not last as long as he would of hope, Stanley’s love for all things space still burned inside of him. After some research and a lot of conversations, Stanley decided he wanted to go to space camp and gain a true understanding of what NASA is. He wanted to be an engineer and design space shuttles.

Unfortunately, Stanley was not able to attend space camp. He left us to go live in the Cosmos March of 2023. This loss shattered our family, but we knew we could not let his death be in vain. In memory of Stanley, we decided to start raising money to give others the chance to do what Stanley so desperately wanted to do, go to space camp. Our goal is to send at least one candidate to space camp a year through fundraisers and donations as long as we are able too with the hopes that it will be a life changing experience for them.

This scholarship targets students at a specific school, Meadow Bridge Elementary in Meadow Bridge, West Virginia. It awards a scholarship to one male and one female student to attend a weeklong Space Camp the summer of their fifth-grade year. Students apply by submitting an essay on what “’Failure Is not an Option’ means to space exploration and my goals.”

This scholarship aims to inspire young minds to dream the impossible, to think differently. It’s not that they won’t fail – everyone does at some point – but they should not give up. We want them to understand that if things were easy, everyone would do them.

Why this school? Meadow Bridge is the birthplace of some who helped put mankind on the moon. These individuals attended schools without computers, the internet or Google, but they had passion, a purpose and a mission. They figured out the rest.

According to the fund’s organizers, this scholarship fund begins with one school, but their long-term goal is to expand to other schools.

Ron was born in Chicago, Illinois and at an early age developed a love of outer space, science, and mathematics. After serving in the army as an engineer, Ron resumed his education graduating from the University of Illinois (Urbana-Champaign) with a doctorate in theoretical physics and completing his post-doctoral work at Cornell University in 1978.

In 1978, Ron was hired as an astrophysicist for NASA at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, where he would work for 41 years until his retirement in 2019. He predominantly focused on the development and subsequently the analysis of data from the Chandra X-Ray Telescope, publishing over 250 scientific papers.

Ron routinely shared educational resources with teachers including his daughter and volunteered for NASA community outreach programs to spread interest in science and mathematics with school age children. This carried over into his personal life where he enjoyed discussing the latest astronomical discoveries and theories with his son and visiting the Space & Rocket Center with his family, especially his grandchildren.

Ron passed away in September 2025. His children and spouse could think of no better way to preserve his memory than a scholarship to fund attendance at Space Camp to support and grow the love of outer space, NASA, and science in our next generation of future astronauts and scientists.

Astra sunt futura nostra (The stars are our future).

I created The Dreamcatchers Legacy at the age of 14 with one goal in mind. To inspire other kids and teens to follow their dreams in honor of those who didn’t get the chance. This initiative is very close to my heart and dedicated to my cousin and honorary godmother Emmah, who lost her battle with cancer just days before I was born. I promise to live a full enough life for the both of us and am honored to do so. Both the beauty and fragility of Emmah’s life are represented by the butterfly in my logo.

Meet the girl behind the legacy, Emmah. She was a normal girl who loved to run, play, laugh, and sing until she was diagnosed with stage IV Neuroblastoma at the age of 10. Emmah was brave, strong and courageous for the 3.5 years she battled her cancer. The chance for her to further explore her desire to sing or experience the limitless possibilities that life had to offer was taken away from her. She had talked about maybe becoming a teacher and had a larger than life desire to want to help others. She was the eldest of six and loved her brothers and sisters very much. I share her story to keep her memory alive. Although her time was cut short, I look forward to seeing her spirit, tenacity, and zest for life live on through donation recipients.

Since last year, The Dreamcatchers Legacy initiative was able to donate over $2,000 in summer camps to local elementary school students. This is important to me because attending Space Camp at the age of 9 is what inspired me to follow and achieve my dreams of becoming an astronaut and pilot. The Dreamcatchers Legacy was thrilled to donate $300 of community experiences and stem activities to local elementary school students. One of my favorite events I’ve hosted was a goalsetting workshop at a local elementary school. This aligns with my initiative, as it is important for me to inspire other kids and teens to follow their dreams.

In addition to our donations to the children of the Colorado Springs community, I have been happy to donate over 50 hours of my time to Stellar Wonders, making bracelets that are distributed to pediatric cancer patients. I have also started a private fundraiser for St Jude with a personal goal of helping them raise over $1,000 in the next year. I am currently in contact with local assisted living facilities in efforts to set up “Hats for Hope”, I am currently looking for sponsors to donate yarn and knitting supplies that will be dropped off to volunteers who enjoy to knit. They will knit hats for pediatric cancer patients to be delivered in October of 2025. I am very excited about this new addition to The Dreamcatchers Legacy. Because I plan to grow my CSI for years to come, I have signed up for a nonprofit workshop to learn more about turning Dreamcatcher’s legacy into an official nonprofit.

To stay relevant, I have started an instagram platform for The Dreamcatchers Legacy. This will be a great place to host virtual fundraisers. I look forward to sharing the stories of all the brave kids and teens who didn’t have the chance to follow their dreams or meet their full potential. I hope this inspires viewers to see each day as a gift, each opportunity as a blessing and each challenge they face as an adventure.

David Emil Dimond was born May 16, 1952 in Heidelberg, Germany. He grew up in Valley Stream, Long Island, New York. Dave’s love of space began early from the earliest days of the “space race” in the 1960s. The Mercury 7 were his heroes and set the bar for all those who followed in their footsteps. He graduated from Valley Stream Central High School in 1970 and then moved to Manhattan, Kansas (the Little Apple) to attend Kansas State University. He met his future wife, Pat, the first day of their freshman year and married on May 25, 1974, a week after graduation. After living in Illinois and Kansas for a short time, they moved to Boulder County, Colorado. Dave worked in I.T. for several years before retiring in 2019.

The night sky enthralled him, and the constellations were as familiar as his own neighborhood. He taught his three children and four grandchildren to love the night and identify the stars. Dave always knew when the next meteor shower or super moon would occur. He and Pat have a home in the mountains and Dave would spend the nights looking to the heavens to see the Milky Way and shooting stars.

One of the highlights of his life was attending Space Camp in 1987. He was among the first groups of adults to attend and was one of the few, if not only, non-teachers in the class.

Dave passed away on September 3, 2022 of Covid Pneumonia. His granddaughters say they know he’s ok because the moon and the stars told them.

Space Camp is a life-changing experience that uses the excitement of U.S. and international space programs to stimulate children’s interest in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Math). Space Camp not only trains and inspires the next astronauts, engineers, and leaders, it instills confidence, problem-solving, and teamworking skills that are critical to the development of our youth. The powerful difference a Space Camp experience can make has been witnessed first-hand by so many people! This is why a portion of the proceeds from every sale of our SPACE CERTIFIED Space Salsa will go to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center Education Foundation for Space Camp Scholarships. On to Mars!

From a young age, Tyler loved airplanes, rocketry, spacecraft, innovation and adventure. Raised in rural Nebraska, Tyler eventually lived all over the U.S. Beyond his love of the unknown, he pursued several passions including cooking, gaming, stand-up comedy, fishing, hunting, camping and hiking. His broad understanding of the world and kind heart meant that he could talk with anyone on almost any topic. He made friends easily and nurtured those friendships with care.

A problem-solver and technology aficionado, his greatest point of pride was working for Apple for 11 years. Cancer claimed Tyler much too early with his passing at age 41.

Though he never attended Space Camp as a young boy, two of his fondest memories were visiting the Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral and building model rockets with his nephews. This memorial supports others with similar passions and big dreams, regardless of their financial situation. This memorial also salutes Tyler’s recently deceased father, Lee Christensen, who, like his son, would embrace a program helping young imaginations to soar.