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Obituaries Gerry
Parker's B-66 Memorial Photos Frank Fucich submitted by Gerry Reponen LtCol Frank W. Fucich died January 3 of congestive heart failure. He was 79 years old. He and his wife Mary were married for 56 years. He retired on 1 July 1971 after 28 years in the service. He began his career flying the B-17 followed by the B-36, B-52 and B-66. The injuries he sustained in a B-66 crash on take-off in Spangdahlem, Germany, caused him to bring an end to his military career. He was born 24 October 1924 and raised in Pittsburgh, Pa., the son of Croatian immigrants. His mother was from Bukovar, Yugoslavia and his father from Primosten, Yugoslavia. He was proud of his Croatian roots and spoke the language fluently. He is survived by his wife, Mary, his son Travis Brophy, daughters Teresa Stramiello, Susannah Nelson, and Stephanie Miller, five grandchildren and on great-grandchild. He was cremated and the Mass of Resurrection was on January 9 in El Dorado Hills, Ca. Ernie Lahr submitted by Gerry Reponen I talked with Ernie Lahr (P) in August and felt it was his farewell call to me as a good friend. With his brain tumors, his speech was becoming slurred. He and his wife Lorraine were divorced in the 1960's and she lives in Ft. Walton Beach, Florida. He had remarried and his second wife was ailing when we had the first B-66 reunion in Las Vegas and did not attend. They moved to Kingman to be closer to a doctor in Las Vegas who was giving him experimental drugs for his lung cancer. After her death he lived alone in their new house. Just prior to his dying he told me he asked Lorraine to fly out and re-marry him. He then filed for SBP benefits for her and shortly after succumbed to his cancer. I commended him for being such a noble person and taking this act to bring the family back together again. He was that type of special friend. One son lives in the Los Angeles area and is the one who notified me of his death after receiving my Christmas card. I failed to get his address but am waiting to hear from them after sending an 8 X 10 photo of Ernie from the reunion. I also sent him some stories of his Dad of which he could be proud when Ernie and I would fly cross country together. If you are interested, I will email the address as soon as I get it. Stan Rinaman by Arthur C. Rinaman, his Loving Son This is just a note to pass along that Stan Rinaman died on June 17, 2002. It was nice to see his name again. Robert F. Hoyt from Bill Oney: COL Robert F. (BOB) Hoyt died at Sumter Hospital 3/26/03. He will be buried in Arlington National Cemetary with military honors. His son, Richard is buried there. Robert (Bob) Hoyt is survived by his wife Ruth. A note of sympathy can be sent to her address: 15 Chapel Court., Sumter, SC 29105. She can also be reached at 803-775-1769. William C. Leeper from Chaplain Pierre Allegre: Today I am conducting the military honors graveside funeral of Lt. Col. William C. Leeper, ret., who was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his bravery, skill, and valor while flying the EB 66 over North Vietnam. I am honored to bury this hero today. May God bless his family and may God bless the USA. Chaplain
Pierre Allegre, USAFR <pmallegre@hotmail.com> Hector P. DeGagne from Lorraine M. Huey: My dad, Major Hector P. DeGagne, was a navigator on an EB-66 and was stationed in Thailand flying missions over enemy territory during the year 1969. On October 9, 1969, he flew a mission for which he later received the Distinguished Flying Cross award. Unfortunately, he died in October of 1985, long before the internet became accessible. In his memory, however, and because I know how much he would have enjoyed all that the internet makes available to the average citizen, I enjoy surfing to web sites that I know he would have found interesting. Obviously, this would be one of them. Thanks for remembering those that served us so well in the VietNam conflict. Lorraine M. Huey Howard Davis passed away on November 13th in Tampa, Florida after a long bout with heart, liver, and other problems. He was a fighter to the end. He was an old recce pilot; a member of the 185th TRS in 1952 at Shaw; one time CO of the 17th TRS, and an advisor to the Meridian ANG in 1961. If anyone would like to call his wife, Bea, and offer condolences, the number is 813-689-6973. -- LaVerne Griffin, Portage, Wisconsin Sad news from Sam Dickens: Red Leader, Colonel Red Morrison, died 18 November 2002 at the Mount Vernon Hospital in Virginia. Red's wife, Sally, called me this morning (25 November) to give me the news. Red died of pneumonia and heart failure. He had been greatly weakened since falling several months ago, breaking a hip. It has been two and a half years since having quadruple heart surgery and suffering a mild stroke. Red was 82 years old. Red's remains have been cremated and funeral services at Arlington National Cemetery have been postponed until 22 April 2003. There will be services at the Old Post Chapel at Fort Myer, Virginia commencing at 1100. Following the services in the chapel Red will receive full military honors with horse drawn caisson to the burial site, where a son was buried. Following the interment a reception will be held in the Ft. Myer's Officers Club. Sally told me how much Red enjoyed the cards sent him and was frustrated in his inability to adequately communicate his thoughts through whispers because of the constant intrusion of a tube down his throat. He fought a brave fight and desperately worked to recover. He had briefly walked just a few days ago. Sally mentioned how he was touched that one of the cards he had received had said that he would always be "Red Leader" to the writer. Red was president of his West Point class of 1944 and also the scribe keeping tabs on classmate's activities. I told Sally that Red was always the warrior and an inspiration to all with whom he came into contact. Sally
Morrison's address is: Nelson Hostetter from Arnie Dahl I was just informed by Alex Underwood that Nelson Hostetter passed away the week after Thanksgiving. As you know he had been in ill health for some time and the doctors just couldn't get things under control. I knew you would want to know since you and he had corresponded for quite some time. I will always be grateful to him for putting me in contact with you and the association. Sadly though, I guess this makes me the new permanent POC for the FE's and gunners. I will do my best. In closing, I want to thank you for the fantastic job you and Laura did with the reunion. Pat and I really enjoyed ourselves and it was great to finally meet the two of you. It was so good to see Rube and Charlotte again as well as Seabrook and Norgaard - my second crew. Well Done!! Looking forward to '04 at Dayton, I wish you and yours a very Merry Christmas and healthy and prosperous New Year. Warmest Regards, |
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