Retired pilot helps historical society buy Neil Armstrong’s boyhood home for tours

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — Ken Schreiber was 9 when Neil Armstrong took his first steps on the moon in 1969 — a moment he would never forget. Like Armstrong, he too became a military fighter pilot.

So when Schreiber read a story in August that Armstrong’s boyhood home in Ohio was for sale and later learned no one had come forward to preserve it, he surprised even himself by making an offer.

“I just thought somebody has got to step up to the plate,” Schreiber said, remembering his father’s advice to “make a mark in life.”

The sale is scheduled to be finalized Monday. The local historical society will take ownership thanks to Schreiber’s $400,000 donation. He spent 20 years in the U.S. Air Force and retired as a pilot with American Airlines.

The Auglaize County Historical Society plans to restore the well-preserved home to its appearance during Armstrong’s boyhood, when he built model planes in the dining room and tested them in a basement wind tunnel he created.

Armstrong’s boyhood home could open for tours by 2030

The goal is to have the home ready for its first public tours by 2030 to mark the 100th anniversary of Armstrong’s birth, said Gerald Siesel, the historical society’s president.

The two-story home in Wapakoneta has long been a stop for visitors to the Armstrong Air and Space Museum curious about the astronaut’s early life, but it has never been open to the public.

The historical society has already started researching what the house would’ve looked like in the 1940s and talking with community leaders about raising money to renovate and maintain the home, Siesel said.

“Even now when this opportunity came our way, we realized we can’t do it ourselves,” he said.

House played a big role in Armstrong’s first steps to the moon

Armstrong’s family moved often during his childhood before settling in western Ohio when he was a teenager.

The house at 601 W. Benton St. played a big role in his life. He conducted experiments while living there and made his first solo flight and earned his pilot’s license at age 16.

Armstrong’s old bedroom is now decorated with photos and paintings of the moon landing and autographed photos of astronauts who’ve visited.

Little has changed on the outside, and the layout inside is similar too, though it has been updated.

The home went up for sale in August for the first time in nearly 40 years.

Karen Mikesell, a retired history teacher, bought the place in 1988 and is just one of a handful of people who’ve owned the home since Armstrong’s parents moved in the mid-1960s.

Over the years, she hosted nine astronauts, including Buzz Aldrin, who flew to the moon with Armstrong and Michael Collins in 1969.

Aldrin stepped inside the bedroom upstairs a few years after Armstrong died in 2012, Mikesell recalled, “and the tears just streamed down his cheeks.”

She said she felt a responsibility to preserve its past and to “keep it like the Armstrongs had” as much as possible. Mikesell, who’s 82, hoped someone would buy the house to help preserve it and inspire future generations.

That’s where Schreiber came in. He first asked friends to chip in but then donated the $400,000 on his own to help the historical society acquire the house.

New life for the Armstrong house

Schreiber, who grew up in Dayton, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) south of Armstrong’s hometown, always admired him for his achievements, modesty and character.

Despite growing up so close, Schreiber had never visited the Armstrong Air and Space Museum until this summer. He also toured the house.

“It was almost like the ghost of Neil Armstrong was there,” he said. “I could imagine him running up and down the stairs.”