Christa McAuliffe's mother, Grace George Corrigan, died last week at the age of 94.Her death on Nov. 8 came 32 years after the loss of her daughter, who was among the crew members killed when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded 73 seconds after takeoff on Jan. 28, 1986.Corrigan's passing also comes 28 years after the passing of her husband, Edward Corrigan.She left behind two daughters, Lisa Bristol and Elizabeth Corrigan, and two sons, Christopher Corrigan and Stephen Corrigan. She also had nine grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. She is also survived by her daughter Christa McAuliffe's late husband, Steven McAuliffe.Corrigan was an artist, author and teacher who dedicated her life to completing her daughter's mission to educate and inspire.She traveled widely, talking with children and adults all over the U.S. about Christa McAuliffe's mission, space exploration and working hard to achieve one's dreams."She was a wonderful friend to the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center," said Discovery Center Executive Director Jeanne Gerulskis. "I first met her when she came to what was then the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium for a special event with the U.S. Postal Service, celebrating the issuance of U.S. stamps commemorating space exploration."Several months later, Gerulskis said she contacted Corrigan when they were thinking about expanding the planetarium into a science museum dedicated to both Christa McAuliffe and Adm. Alan B. Shepard Jr., the first American in space."I wrote her to see how she would feel about her daughter sharing the dedication of our museum-to-be with Shepard, America's first astronaut, her fellow New Hampshire space pioneer. Grace called and told me, 'Alan Shepard was Christa's hero. She would be absolutely delighted to share the dedication with him,'" Gerulskis said.The Planetarium Commission and staff began the decadelong process of creating the McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center.Discovery Center officials said Corrigan was with the team every step of the way, joining state, federal, local and museum leadership alongside Shepard's daughters at the October 2007 groundbreaking.Corrigan spoke at the Discovery Center's grand opening on March 6, 2009 and also brought a photo of Christa, sheet music from when Christa was learning to play piano as a child and Girl Scout pins for display at the Discovery Center, along with a poster of the Mercury 7 astronauts she'd obtained at an event where the remaining Mercury 7 astronauts all became Grace Corrigan fans."Grace Corrigan was dedicated, inspirational, supportive and just plain fun," Gerulskis said. "I feel privileged to have known her, and consider her name, Grace, to be an apt description of this truly lovely person."Services were held Monday at St. George Church in Framingham, Massachusetts, followed by a private burial.