'Man in Space'

Loren Wolff, who at age 18, spent two months living atop an 180-foot aluminum tower near Harrison Avenue and was promoted around the world as Centralia's "Man in Space," died Jan. 28 of a massive heart attack. The longtime Hawaii resident would have turned 65 next week.

Wolf earned a $1,000 scholarship for spending most of the summer of 1962 living in a mock space capsule high above what was then the outskirts of Centralia along Harrison Avenue and the new freeway through town.

The publicity stunt was keyed to the World's Fair in Seattle and briefly gave Centralia its own sort of Space Needle.

The Daily Chronicle and others on the ground called him an astronaut, and he played along with the comparison.

"I feel that John Glenn and I really do have a lot in common -- a common faith in God," he told a Chronicle reporter near the end of his stint aloft.

Wolff, while cheerful in his solitary perch, said he missed his piano and going to church the most. An active Free Methodist, Wolff had taken his Bible and devotional books into the space capsule with him.

Wolff spent most of his time aloft promoting Washington to ham radio operators around the world. He particularly enjoyed talking to people behind the "Iron Curtain" during a time of intense political and aeronautical competition between America and the Soviet bloc. A telephone and closed-circuit television connected his capsule with the ground, where passers-by could call him up to chat while watching him in his living quarters.

One child gave him a chuckle by asking, "When are they going to drop your capsule into the water?" -- a reference to the oceanic landings which ended space flights of the era.

His other pastime was sitting in a lawn chair on a narrow catwalk around his space capsule. The 360-degree view around him was stunning, with the new Centralia Junior High School visible near Fort Borst Park and constant traffic along the new four-lane "Pacific Highway."

The sedentary life caused him to gain 10 pounds while in the air.

"It's the good food and lack of exercise," he told The Daily Chronicle.

Breezes kept him cool during a hot spell that saw temperatures hit 105 degrees that summer. He also survived gusts of wind that shook his tower, rolled him out of bed and knocked an alarm clock off his desk and onto his head.

He had a heater to warm up his capsule during chilly nights, although he had a hard time staying dry during rainy spells, since the roof leaked.

Still, when asked if he would again choose to go aloft as an "astronaut," Wolff said yes.

"Everyone has been wonderful to me," he said.

After the Tower

Wolff, whose parents owned a "Mom and Pop" grocery store at the corner of Alder and Cherry streets in Centralia, started at Centralia College a few days after he came down from the tower.

He used his $1,000 scholarship to attend Seattle Pacific College, a religious school affiliated with his Free Methodist denomination. He went on to Hawaii for his master's degree. He met his wife in Hawaii and settled down as a music teacher.

An accomplished musician, he particularly enjoyed playing gospel and classical music, according to his older brother, Vernon Wolff.

"He could sit for hours and entertain you on a piano," Vernon Wolff told The Chronicle.

Loren Wolff went on to become a vice principal. In retirement he taught computer technology at the University of Hawaii in Hilo.

The tower-sitting episode was a part of family lore, the elder Wolff said, noting that the isolation wasn't a problem for his younger brother, since he had his ham radio to keep him connected to people across the world.

"He loved it," Vernon Wolff said. "It wasn't any problem at all for him. He had a ball."

Loren Wolff is survived by his wife, Darlene, and two children, Toby and Amanda, along with his mother and three siblings.

A memorial will be held Saturday at Hilo Church of the Nazarene.

What Was the 'Man in Space' Project?
• Loren Wolff lived in a faux space capsule sitting atop a metal tower from July 1 to Sept. 4, 1962 near what is today the Country Cousin restaurant.
• Atop the tower was a likeness of the 1962 Friendship 7 space capsule in which astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth.
• He was the second person to attempt the stunt. The first, a local radio personality named Doc Watson, became ill and had to come down after only a few days on the tower. A committee of prominent local citizens selected Wolff from six applicants.
• Wolff spent 65 days in the tower. Large crowds attended ceremonies at the foot of the tower when he climbed up and when he came down.
• One child who called him on the ground-to-space capsule phone asked how he got to the top of the tower. He said he climbed up the pegs. "Mamma! Mamma!" the small voice called. "He's got a bunch of pigs up there."
• The tower was installed by the Centralia and Chehalis chambers of commerce in response to a statewide call for projects to promote the Seattle's World's Fair.

What Ever Happened to the 'Man in Space' Tower?

The Aluminum Company of America owned the tower, which was still in place a month later when the record Columbus Day windstorm caused major damage throughout the state. The space tower survived, however, and Alcoa promoted the strength of its products with photos of the tower standing unscathed beside the destruction.

A Grand Mound resident purchased the "space capsule" and set it up in his pasture as a fort for his children. It sat there until at least the late 1970s.

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Brian Mittge: (360) 807-8234