Departures - 2001
We publish departures based on the year listed in the obituary. If no year is listed then we publish them when they are received.
I received a card from Mary Craig indicating that Tom Craig (MSgt, USAF(Ret) and AWA member), passed away quietly in his sleep on Dec 29,2001. Mary indicated in their Christmas card that Tom was having some difficulty as she was writing cards for him due to his macular degeneration. We are sorry to lose Tom. He was a wonderful man. He was the Station Chief at RAF Lakenheath when I arrived as Detco. He helped me greatly, along with all the other neat people who were there. For those who knew Tom and wish to pass on regards to Mary, her address is:
1991 Player Cir N
Melbourne, FL 32935-4416
Ed Boselly
The news concerning Tom Craig is especially devastating to me as I knew Tom for many, many years as one of the finest, most professional individuals this young and later, not so young Airman, would ever have the honor of being around. I first met Tom as a young Airman at Homestead AFB. At that time, Homestead served as the support base for Nixon's southern White House at Key Biscayne. The base weather station was staffed with a collection of some of the most senior and experienced enlisted forecasters and observers. Even in that environment, Tom stood out. What many did know was Tom's long and distinguished path to AWS. For instance, that he was a veteran of the Royal Navy during WWII including the infamous Murmansk run. Any wonder why he could be such a leader? My condolences to Mary and the family. They have lost a fine man, loving father and husband; we have all lost a Man. Al Mongeon
Reporting the death on July 13, 2001, of Roland Gibbs, 78. Roland served in the Pacific as a Sgt with the 20th Weather Squadron during WWII. He leaves his wife, Mildred and many friends here in Granby, MA.
For several years in the very early '40s, CWO Andrew W. Weston taught Surface, Upper Air and Air Mass Analysis to many hundreds of students at the Chanute AFB, IL Weather Forecasting School. I was one of his students in 1942 and from 1947 to 1949 we worked together in the Haneda AFB Tokyo Weather Central and we both retired in the Sacramento, CA area. Andy passed away July 11th, 2001 at home in Rancho Cordova, CA at the age of 89. He will be remembered for his outstanding instruction technique at Chanute by everyone that attended his classes. He is survived by his wife of 54 years, Mary, and their children, BGen Craig Weston (USAF) and Kay Weston of Chevy Chase, MD
Edgar F. Boucherer, 87, of Mackinaw, Illinois died Monday, June 11, 2001. Funeral services were held on June 14 at the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Pekin, Il. Burial was in Gaines Cemetery in Minier, Il. Mr. Boucher was born May 20, 1914, in Mackinaw. He married Virginia Eveans on April 26, 1942 in Mackinaw. Surviving are his wife, one son, Michael Boucher, one daughter, Jane Siwak, six grandchildren, five step-grandchildren, four great-grandchildren, six step-great-grandchildren, two brothers and one sister. Mr. Boucher worked as a laboratory technician at Corn Products Co. in Pekin for 34 years, retiring in 1979. He previously worked as a welder at Caterpillar Inc. He was a World War II veteran of the US Army Air Force, serving with the 17th Weather Squadron in the Pacific with battle campaigns in the Northern Solomons and Ryukyus. In the 1999 Air Weather Association Newsletter, page 9, Ed is remembered as the Tori Shima Weather Man. He was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Pekin, where he served as an elder. He also was a menter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Memorial contributions may be made to a charity of the donor's choice.
Colonel (Ret.) Kent Louis Aaron Zimmermanan of San Antonio, Texas, has spent many hours enjoying sending and receiving emails from many AWA members. As you may have heard, on April 27th, he peacefully passed away in the company of his loving family. A Memorial Service was held in San Antonio on Sunday, April 30th and he will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery on May 30th, 2001 with full military honors. He is survived by his wife Marty and a son and daughter.
Col (Ret) Don Pittmann died of a massive heart attack just before midnight, Tuesday, 15 May 2001, in Oklahoma City. Don was there on a business trip. He and co-workers went to see an evening baseball game. Don suffered the heart attack just as they were entering the stadium. Emergency medical services were on the scene very quickly and he was taken to the emergency room of a nearby hospital. Don passed on around 11:30PM. Memorial Services: Viewing 6:00PM-8:00PM, Friday, May 18th Memorial Funeral Chapel 2901 Texas Avenue College Station, Texas 77845 10:00AM, Saturday, May 19th A&M United Methodist Church 417 University Drive College Station, Texas 77840. Graveside Burial Service: For those wishing to send flowers for Don Pittman's burial service at Arlington National Cemetery, 05 June 2001, Tuesday, 9:00AM, please send them to:
Demaine Funeral Home
520 South Washington Street
Alexandria, VA 22314
(703) 549-0074
The flowers will be transported to Arlington National Cemetery for the burial service. Condolences may be sent to: Ginny Pittman 135 South Homeland Avenue Annapolis, MD 21401
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Wayne Leach of Columbia, South Carolina, died Monday, April 30, 2001. Born in Mariette, Mich., June 23, 1921, he was the son of the late Orval and Flossie Westover Leach. In 1939, he graduated from Sandusky High School in Michigan. He attended Central Michigan University, where he began a lifelong interest and career in civilian and military aviation. Commissioned a 2nd Lt. (Army Air Corps) in 1943, he subsequently completed degrees in engineering and meteorology at Michigan State University and Texas A & M. During the Korean Conflict, Lt. Col. Leach served in Guam and Japan, where he flew B-29s. Following duty as a pilot, meteorologist and squadron commander in the United States, Great Britain and Germany, he retired in 1970 from Shaw Air Force Base, Sumter. He was preceded in death by his first wife, Ruth Mostoller Leach of Heyworth, Ill., in 1974. Surviving are his wife, Reva Jane; son Mark and his wife, Sandy, and granddaughter, Marie, of Columbia; sister, Marion Mercado and her husband, Phil, of Rochester Hills, Mich.; stepdaughter, Kim Lemke and granddaughter, Alexandra, of Columbia; stepdaughter, Janis Malmo and her husband, Dave, and grandsons, Weston, Brandon and Nathan, stepson, David Lemke and his wife, Jackie, and granddaughters, Robin and Lisa, of South Lyon, Mich. Memorial services for Lt. Col. Wayne Leach, 79, were held at 10 a.m. Thursday, May 3, 2001 at Asbury Memorial United Methodist Church. Memorials may be made to Asbury Memorial United Methodist Church Elevator Fund, 1005 Asbury Drive, Columbia, SC 29209.
Bonita ("Bonnee") Johnston passed away on April 7, 2001 due to a series of strokes and the complications of diabetes. She was the only child of Ida Fem and James Everette Willits, born in Los Angeles, and a graduate of Beverly Hills High School ('37) and UCLA ('41). In September of 1941 she was married to Robert D. Johnston following a four-year courtship. Bonnee became an 'Air Force Officer's Wife' some six months later, a career which lasted the next thirty years. She and spouse Bob, a meteorologist with the U.S. Air Force Air Weather Service, had various stateside assignments, and enjoyed three-year overseas tours of duty in Germany, Japan, and England. Following her husband's retirement, the couple lived for 14 years in Upland, California, and since 1985, in Dana Point, California. Bonnee is survived by her husband of 59 years Col (Ret.) Robert D. Johnston, her daughter Randi Dee Johnson, and grandchildren Devon Vail Johnson and Michael Christopher Kamensky. It was her wish that her life be remembered in happy, informal social gatherings of dear friends. In accordance with her request, no formal services are planned and in lieu of flowers, friends may contribute to Hospice, or their favorite worthy cause.
Chief Master Sergeant George M. Horn, USAF (Ret), was inurned in a military ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery on 9 April 2001, at 3:00PM. Chief Horn passed away on 28 February 2001, after a long, valiant fight with ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). George retired from the USAF on 31 Dec 82 after almost 33 years of distinguished service to the Nation. In his last 4 years of active duty, he served as the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Commander, Air Weather Service.
William C. "Bill" Clark Jr. (1917-2001) A Memorial Service was held on Wednesday, January 17, 2001, at 10:00 a.m. in La Villa Assisted Living Center, with Rev. Steve Chappell officiating, for William C. "Bill" Clark, Jr., 83, of Roswell, who passed away on Monday, January 15, 2001. Bill was born on September 4, 1917 in Youngstown, OH to William and Jessie Mae Clark. Bill married Dorothy Miller on December 13, 1947 in Youngstown. They moved to Roswell from Youngstown 17 years ago. Bill worked 39 years for Republic Steel Corporation/LTV in clerical and sales, and served with the 17th Weather Squadron, Army Air Corps with the rank of Staff Sergeant in World War II. He was a member of the First United Methodist Church. Bill was a supporter of the American Heart Association, Amnesty International, and Planned Parenthood. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to those organizations in his memory. Bill is survived by his wife, Dorothy at home; two sons, Douglas W. Clark of Los Angeles, CA, James G. Clark and his wife, Kristina of Tucson, AZ; one daughter, Barbara C. and her husband, Thomas P. Madora, of Wilmington, DE; two grandchildren, Hillary Clark and Jessie Hanna Clark of Tucson, AZ; two sisters, Dorothy Hoover of Poland, OH and Doris Mae Antonucci of Duarte, CA. Interment will be in Forest Lawn Cemetery, Youngstown, OH at a later date. Services were under the direction of Anderson-Bethany Funeral Home and Crematory.