Oscar Carl Holderer, the last member of Dr. Wernher von Braun's original "Operation Paperclip" team that built the Saturn V moon rocket, died Tuesday in Huntsville, Ala. He was 95.

Born in Preum, Germany, on Nov. 4, 1919, Holderer was an engineer who worked with von Braun on rockets in Germany before coming to the United States. He arrived in 1945 in the second group of German scientists and technicians brought to America after the war in the Army program called "Operation Paperclip." He was "proud" of becoming an American citizen in 1955, his obituary notes.

Holderer would say that he was not one of Huntsville's famous rocket scientists, but he was one of the best engineers in a city famous for engineering accomplishments. The wind tunnel used by NASA to test the Saturn V - and still used today - was Holderer's design. He held 19 patents at the time of his death.

Holderer made other significant contributions to Alabama after retiring from NASA including designing the multi-access trainer, low-gravity trainer and other equipment used by more than 600,000 campers at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center's Space Camp.

When it was decided to place a Saturn 1B rocket at the Alabama welcome center on I-65 at the Tennessee state line, Holderer was the engineer who guided the installation. "NASA said, 'If Oscar says it's OK, it's OK," said Ed Buckbee, a NASA public affairs officer during the Apollo era.

Holderer was unlike his famous colleagues, who moved to homes near each other on top of or near Huntsville Monte Sano mountain. He designed and built the home he lived in for 61 years in northwest Huntsville near the Huntsville country club. Visitors were sometimes offered tours of his large, spotless and meticulously arranged home machine shop.

"Oscar Holderer supported the U.S. Space & Rocket Center with his stellar engineering talent from our very beginning," space center CEO Deborah Barnhart said Wednesday. "Millions of our visitors 'walked in moon gravity' on his Space Walker simulator in our Rocket Park. As recently as three weeks ago, he was still consulting with me on our future plans. Our love, appreciation, and respect for this Space Camp Hall of Fame winner endures beyond his years."

Holderer is survived by his wife, Jan Smith Dunlap Holderer, two sons, a stepson and stepdaughter. Spry Funeral Home is in charge of services. A visitation and remembrances will be Friday, May 8, from 3 to 4 p.m. at the funeral home.

Also surviving from the era is Dr. Georg von Tiesenhausen, who came to the United States from Germany later, but was an instrumental part of the Apollo program.

(Updated at 8:30 p.m. CDT to include a quote from Ed Buckbee and information about Georg von Tiesenhausen. Updated at 10 p.m. CDT to add reaction from Dr. Deborah Barnhart)