Dennis
Hines of Palmdale, CA passed away on February 1, 2017. He was 57. He
was a devoted husband, father, grandfather and was loved by his family and
friends. A long-time resident of the Antelope Valley, Dennis was born in
Johnstown, PA, and raised in Erie, PA. He earned degrees from the University of
Pittsburgh with a BS in mechanical engineering with the honorable title of
Distinguished Graduate, and master’s degrees in systems management from the
University of Southern California and in mechanical engineering from California
State University – Northridge.He was employed at the Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards Air Force Base, CA over a 22 year period. He first came to the center in 1981, and served in the Air force until 1985. He flew as a flight test engineer on F-16, F-4, F-104, T-38, and 8-52 aircraft. He served in a variety of project management roles, and finally as, director of the Project Management Directorate in 2003. For the next five years, the family relocated to Washington, DC where he served as deputy systems executive officer for Ballistic Missile Defense, director of Ballistic Missile Defense System Integration and finally as director of Target and Countermeasure Requirements. Returning to the Antelope Valley in 2008, he was promoted to the senior executive service as the Director of Programs at NASA's Neil A. Armstrong Flight Research Center, Edwards, CA, where he was responsible for the advocacy, formulation, management and implementation of the Center flight projects. He took great pride in and was dedicated to his service to the federal government and he strived to be an educator and mentor to everyone.
He had innumerable interests, enjoyed playing golf and attended the PGA golf tournament at Torrey Pines. He had a life-long love of writing and dreamed of being a writer. He was an avid reader, enjoyed travel, visiting Yosemite and there were frequent visits to Disneyland. He taught himself to draw using pastels. He was always seeking to improve himself and studied many topics, including music, history, philosophy and leadership.
He is survived by his wife Connie, his daughter Leslie and son-in-law Adrien Brooks, his daughter Audrey, his granddaughter, Hayley, His brother, Michael and sister-in-law Helen, his sister, Susan and brother-in-law Dan Piskor, his nephew, Matthew, his nieces, Lisa and Diana, and many other relatives. He is preceded in death by his parents Owen and Lucille (Vrabel) Hines.