Naples woman says she had breakfast with astronauts before they made history

ESTERO, Fla. (WINK) — History is not always tucked away in museums or old photographs. Sometimes, it is sitting right in front of you.

At Baker Senior Center in Naples, 96-year-old Jackie Brodeur carries a story tied to one of the most famous eras in American history. Brodeur says that decades before astronauts became larger-than-life figures to the rest of the world, she met them as calm, grounded men at a breakfast table.

Brodeur said she was 32 years old and working at the Rice Hotel in Houston in 1962 for general manager Max Peck when the original seven astronauts checked into the hotel. She said Peck invited her, her two sisters, and their husbands to a breakfast with them before launch activity tied to NASA.

“They were wonderful, down-to-earth guys,” Brodeur said, adding that astronaut Wally Schirra sat at their table.

Looking back, Brodeur said the moment did not fully hit her at first.

“At the time, it was so overwhelming that you probably didn’t think about that until after,” she said. “Then after, I realized what an important situation that was, and the fact that my family was included was pretty remarkable.”

Brodeur said the astronauts did not come across as nervous or boastful, even with so much riding on what was ahead.

“They were just regular guys,” she said. “They were not egotistic men. In my mind, they were people that just concentrated on the job they had to do.”

She said that calm left an impression on her. So did another meeting that came later.

Brodeur said Peck once called her in to meet someone, but because of security, he did not tell her who the man was. Only afterward did she learn it was Neil Armstrong.

“He looked like 16 years old, and he was just a peach,” Brodeur said. “But then I went back to my office, and after that, I found out he was going to the moon.”

Brodeur said the Rice Hotel was no ordinary place. She described it as a 1,000-room hotel in downtown Houston that had security clearance and regularly hosted dignitaries, politicians and other important figures. She said that later on, she also met President John F. Kennedy there.

Still, Brodeur said what stands out most all these years later is not prestige. It is gratitude.

“It means an awful lot,” she said. “I feel that I was very privileged … and really blessed.” Brodeur said she loved meeting people and felt she was in the right kind of work at the right time.

Her faith is also part of how she remembers that chapter of her life. When asked about the risk those astronauts were taking, Brodeur said she prayed for them and believes those prayers were answered.

“I happen to be a person that very much gives credit to the good Lord above,” she said. “And when anything like that happens, I pray for those people, and I know that he’s going to take care of them, and he did.”

Brodeur does not often tell the story. But for those who know her at Baker Senior Center, it fits with the energy she still brings every day.

Community liaison Mark Bieland described Brodeur as “this incredible energy” and said he first got to know her while photographing her at a bone-building class. He said she later tapped him on the shoulder and told him to come back because they were “doing the hard stuff now.” He said he sees her at the center almost every day and called her “just amazing.”

Bieland said Brodeur’s story is meaningful not just because of who she met, but because of who she still is.

“We can learn that if we have the right lifestyle and make the right decisions, that we can thrive so many years ahead than what we believe,” Bieland said. “She is such a great example of what’s possible in our 90s and further.”

For Brodeur, the memory of sharing breakfast with future legends is still special. But she said she mostly remembers them not as untouchable icons, but as focused, humble men preparing to do something extraordinary.

And nearly 64 years later, that memory is still alive in Naples.