Labor of Love: Saucier artist creates artwork to honor Astronaut Fred Haise
Two worlds collide: that of a Saucier sculptor and her hero, Biloxi native and astronaut of Apollo 13 fame, Fred Haise.
Mary Ott Tremmel Davidson’s been spending a lot of time with Fred, but her husband has been quite supportive. “We refer to him as Freddie and certainly he’s had to share me!”
After all, it is a labor of love. “I work on it every single day.”
The Saucier artist has been working since January on this statue bust of South Mississippian and Astronaut Fred Haise, one of three astronauts who made it back home after an explosion and other problems on the fateful Apollo 13 spacecraft mission nearly 50 years ago.
Once complete, the finished statue of Haise will stand just across the street from another explorer crafted by Mary’s skilled hands, Pierre Le Moyne D’Iberville, but this project hits especially close to home. “It’s so wonderful that Biloxi is acknowledging it. We’ve had many events through the years, but I think this one is very momentous. I’m just so thrilled that we’re recognizing Fred. This is just a part of the project. I need another year to do the other steps, the 6-foot-6 statue I’m doing. Fred is 5’6, so I wanted it to be larger than life.”
The City of Biloxi will unveil the foundation of this statue of Fred Haise on April 11th. Everyone is invited to come out and attend on that day. Vincent Creel with the City of Biloxi said, “It’s going to be a replica of a Saturn 5 rocket base. That’s going to be eight feet tall. On top of that we’re working on a statue of Fred Haise. He is one of only 24 people in the world who has gone around the moon. So on this 50th anniversary of Apollo 13, we’re going to make sure the world knows Fred Haise is a product of Biloxi and South Mississippi.”
As for Mary Ott Tremmel Davidson, she hopes history will repeat itself and she’ll see her local hero once again.
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