Ever since he was little, Corban Goad was infatuated with all things space and NASA related.
In the third grade, the Cumberland County student won a contest and got to speak with astronauts going to the International Space Station.
One of the astronauts he got to speak with was University of Tennessee graduate Butch Wilmore, who is in space right now completing a mission for NASA.
Goad ultimately pursued a career in law enforcement and worked as a deputy for the Cumberland County Sheriff’s Office. In 2022, Goad was killed in an off-duty car accident at just 21 years old.
Corban’s dad Chester Goad said, “I had wondered what this Father’s Day would be like. It was year two without him and it turned out to be better than I expected.”
A family friend of the Goads happens to be a family member of Wilmore’s, who heard about Corban’s story and decided to share it with the astronaut in space.
Over the Father’s Day weekend, Wilmore took a picture of a sign that he taped to the window of the shuttle he was in that read, “In Loving Memory of Corban Goad”.
He sent the picture back to East Tennessee, and it was a text message that Goad saw first thing on Father’s Day morning.
Goad said it helped make an otherwise tough day, a little better after seeing a message about his son in space.
The Goad family started the Serve Strong Foundation, which provides aid and resources to first responders and their families.