By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

Longtime Marion resident Dean Armstrong, brother of astronaut Neil Armstrong, his wife, Kate, children, and grandchildren will lead the Old Settlers Day parade in a float designed as a space shuttle. Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren will ride on a trailer behind the float dressed as astronauts.

Armstrong has lived at the county lake since 2006 and lived in Florence for 15 years before moving to Marion.

His brother, Neil, was the first man to set foot on the moon 50 years ago as part of the Apollo 11 mission.

Neil learned to pilot jets at 18, and flew 78 missions in the Korean war. During one flight, the plane’s right wing was ripped off by an anti-aircraft cable strung across a valley, Dean said. Neil rotated the plane and flew out of the valley before ejecting.

Both brothers were students at Purdue University. Neil didn’t like to go to college, so he simply read the books and took his required tests, finishing with “A” grades, Dean said.

“He had this mind, he could read a book like this,” Dean said as he gestured turning pages. “So he didn’t go to class.”