SGT David Burch, TG, Moran Crew: 03 February 2022 David Oscar Burch, 96, passed away peacefully on Thursday, February 3, 2022, in North Richland Hills, Texas. David was born on November 30, 1925, in Detroit, Michigan; one of 3 children of Doris and James Burch. He graduated from St. Cecilia's High School in Detroit, Michigan and enlisted in the Army Air Corp at the age of 17 and was called up 16 days after his 18th birthday. David served with the Moran crew, flying 22 missions as a tail gunner. He was honorably discharged in 1945. He was awarded two Bronze Stars, the Air Medal and two Oak Leaf Clusters for meritorious achievement under heavy bombardment in Europe. David graduated with an Engineering Degree from the University of Detroit in 1949. He married the love of his life, Shirley, in 1950. In 1960, they moved to Dallas, Texas where they raised their 5 children. They were married for 66 years when Shirley passed away in 2016. David worked for Ford Motor Company on the central staff of Plant Engineering. He then became the general manager of a steel fabricating company before relocating to Dallas in 1960 where he was employed with Mullen & Powell Structural Engineers before opening his own firm, Arnold and Burch. He worked at his own firm for 20 years, then worked with Clary Corporation before retiring to Cedar Creek Lake where he continued to work freelance as a Structural Engineer out of his home into his 80s. David loved his work as a Structural Engineer and for several years. He was registered as a professional engineer in all of the 48 contiguous United States. David was very active in his community and church. He was a 3rd Degree Member of the Knights of Columbus. He and Shirley were among the founding families of St. Jude Catholic Church located in Gun Barrel City, Texas, and volunteered many hours serving the church. He was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars. He served on the East Cedar Creek Fresh Water Supply District as a board member for 8 years, 4 of those as president. Shirley and David were active members of the Coast Guard Auxiliary on Cedar Creek Lake for 30 years. They spent many hours, day and night, on safety patrols, on search and rescue missions and on radio watch coordinating water operations over the marine radio. He enjoyed being an instructor, teaching water safety to elementary school children and boaters. David and Shirley loved to travel, to meet people all over the world, to learn their customs, explore new cities, and try new food. David was very proud of his family and loved hosting large family gatherings at the lake. He enjoyed being kept updated on everyone’s accomplishments and interests. |
SGT Franklin E. Fitts, Crew Chief, 835th: 31 May 2023 Franklin Earl Fitts passed away at 100 years old on May 31, 2023. He left this world to join his wife, Frankie, who passed away in 2015. He will again be with his parents Chester and Alice, his brothers Clint and Robert, and the many family, friends, and students that were part of his long and full life. Franklin was forever loving and serving, and is loved greatly in return. Franklin was born on February 12, 1923 in Mansfield, Massachusetts in the area the Fitts family had lived for many generations. When he was still small, his parents moved across the country to Burbank, California which is where he would be raised and attend school through the years of the Great Depression. As a boy, he loved swimming, riding bikes, helping raise the chickens, heading to the beach or the canyons, fresh oranges from the many nearby groves, and fishing from the pier. He loved classical, old country western, and big band music was his favorite. He would play in the marching band at Burbank High and had dreams of playing with his friends in a big band. He developed a love of airplanes. He spent a lot of time around the airplane hangars and sold Liberty Magazines at local hangouts of the famous flyers like Amelia Earhart, Wiley Post, and Will Rogers. He later began working nearby at the Lockeed aircraft factory, assembling planes. It was also during this time that he and his brother joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Like so many young men his age he entered WWII in the Army Air Corps. He did his basic training at Kessler Field in Mississippi and did specialized training at Willow Run Michigan and Davis-Monthan Field in Arizona. He was assigned to the 835th. As a Crew Chief, he worked on the B-24 and the B-17. Following the war he was assigned to care for a group of P-51s in Louisiana. Franklin eventually returned to Burbank and his work at Lockheed. It was about this time that he decided to follow the example of his brother and service a church mission, and was called to serve in Canada. It was here that he would meet another missionary, Frankie LaRee Engebretsen. After their service was over, he began corresponding with her, and then eventually began dating and then got married in Salt Lake City where she was from. Both would go on to attend BYU in Provo, Utah and they began their family there. They would both graduate from BYU and become school teachers for over 30 years each. Franklin began his career teaching in Southern California. He taught in the Burbank/Glendale areas as well as Hawthorne. He would later go on to teach most of his career in Utah, with a brief time in Parowan, years in South Kearns, and many years at Rosecrest Elementary in East Millcreek, UT. He taught several grades, but spent the majority of his career with 5th graders. He was always engaged with his students and developed strong and unique programs in art with pottery, jewelry making from fossils and gemstones which he collected himself throughout Utah. He especially loved teaching physical education, geology, geography, science, and literature. He was always looking to learn and teach something new to his students and family. Franklin and Frankie raised their 5 children primarily in Murray and Holladay, Utah. Franklin loved to be outdoors and spent many days collecting fossils, rocks/gemstones, hiking, camping, in the mountains, at the beach, fishing, canoeing, boating, baseball, basketball, football, tennis, ping pong, and always loved to keep an extensive vegetable garden and orchard. He loved going to BYU games at the Stadium, the Smith Field House and Marriott Center or watching on TV. He loved the Boston Red Sox. He also loved being in the woodshop making things and was a skilled furniture maker. Always the teacher, he involved his children and grandchildren in all of these, as well as supporting any talents and interests they had. Franklin’s focus was always his family, but his love extended to everyone. He helped anyone and anywhere he could. He loved teaching the kids in primary at church. He loved being a missionary for his church and he and Frankie were able to serve a second chuch mission together in England when they retired. He always had a love of the people there and all things England since his days in the war. We can all see him now, dressed in tweed, in his own version of heaven with his English country cottage and his flower and vegetable garden. If there was something that his family, and seemingly everyone knew without a doubt, it was that Franklin loved them. He showed them in words and in action. He taught with words as well, but more often by his great example of unconditional love. |
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S/SGT Bertram M. Clinkston, Waist Gunner, Chilton Crew, 835th: 18 May 2023 Born May 3, 1922, Bert passed away May 18, 2023 at the age of 101. Bert was a devoted son, husband, father, father-in-law, grandfather, brother, uncle, cousin and an always considerate, dear and close friend to many. Bert grew up in Saginaw, Michigan the son of Ben and Ellen Clinkston. He was the youngest of 4 four siblings. He is pre-deceased by his loving wife Barbara. His father Ben was the owner of a scrap metal business Clinkston & Sons. The family was close and together weathered the turbulent and challenging times of The Great Depression. Bert described his mother as the kindest person that ever existed. In September of 1942, Bert enlisted at Fort Custer, Michigan in the United States 8th Air Force and was later placed in the Bomber Command (BC). Extensive basic training and advanced training had Bert crisscrossing the country at a number of bases. He was then transported to Great Britain aboard the Queen Elizabeth, along with 15,000 troops. The vessel had to dodge and weave to avoid German U-boats. Fortunately, the Queen Elizabeth was faster than the U-boats. Bert flew 24 daylight bombing missions over Germany in a B-17 as a waist gunner, through heavy anti-aircraft fire. Over the years he shared many stories about the war. But only in his last years did he discuss actual combat. He described a mission over Berlin, in which 14 out of his bomb group's 36 planes were shot down. One can only imagine the comfort of seeing the chalk cliffs and green landscape of the South Downs when crossing the English Channel returning from a mission; while so many were not as fortunate. During the war, Bert visited London, Cambridge, and other points during leaves, and developed a deep affection for England. Little did he know that his future wife had survived the London Blitz as a girl. Her father perished during a London bombing when she was 9 years old. In 1947 after WWII Bert decided to defy his high school journalism teacher's admonition ("You'll never in God's world make a newspaper man.") and went into journalism as editor of the Starke County Republican in Knox, Indiana, and after that as a reporter for the Port Huron (Michigan) Times Herald. Bert left the paper in 1949 to spend a year traveling in Paris, London, and New York. On his return to England, Bert met his wife Barbara at a jazz club in London. In 1950 Bert went into the scrap metal business with his brother Norman for 4 years. The two worked hard together sharing the lively camaraderie of loving brothers. They also entertained each other with impersonations of some of their more interesting customers. Norman stuck with the scrap metal business and developed Clinkston & Sons to become a regional competitor, supplying products to the Detroit automotive industry. Also in 1950, Barbara and her mother Peggy (Hannah) Sweet moved from London to Saginaw, Michigan where Barbara and Bert were married. Bert's mother and father, Ellen and Ben, warmly welcomed Barbara and Peggy into the family. Barbara gave birth to David in 1953 and the family moved to Minneapolis where Bert resumed his career as a reporter for the Associated Press. In 1954 the trio moved to Portland, Maine where Bert worked as a reporter for the Portland Press Herald. During this period Barbara and David (a wee toddler) sailed to London on the Queen Mary (returning on the Queen Elizabeth) to be with Barbara's Mother and family for an extended visit. In 1960 Bert landed a job across the country as a reporter for the Sacramento Union. The family traded Maine's brutally cold winters for Sacramento's blistering hot summers. Bert and Barbara lived in Sacramento for 33 years until 1993. Bert's newspaper career evolved when Leonard Finder the editor and publisher of the Sacramento Union promoted Bert from reporter to become political editor. Bert and Leonard remained good friends. From his desk in the State Capital building, Bert had access to the movers and shakers in state politics. A registered independent, he developed a reputation for fair, unbiased reporting, and earned the respect and friendship of many in the process. In late 1965 one of those friends, California Secretary of State Frank M Jordan appointed Bert as Deputy Secretary of State. Ironically, as a reporter Bert had interviewed Ronald Reagan at length as a candidate for governor. Subsequently, in his capacity as Deputy Secretary of State, Bert swore Ronald into office. Sadly, Frank Jordan died in office in 1970. Bert left the Secretary of State's office when he was appointed assistant to the Chancellor of the California Community College system, with 92 campuses. In 1982 Bert became the communications Director of the California Taxpayers' Association, a non-profit organization, providing high-quality research and advocacy in government issues. Meanwhile, Barbara developed a strong career as a prolific abstract painter and collage artist. Her work was exhibited in numerous solo and group shows, ranging from private galleries to regional juried shows. Barbara cultivated many enduring friendships with other artists. Bert and Barbara had many interesting close friends from different walks of life, with whom they shared a stimulating social life. They were also active in Congregation B'nai Israel, several blocks from home in the Land Park neighborhood. Bert and Barbara's only grandchild Adam was born in 1983. They adored Adam. Music was always a big part of the home ambiance. Bert was a huge fan of "The Duke" (Duke Ellington), Count Basie, and Benny Goodman. In 1993 Barbara and Bert sold their house of 31 years and made a big move to live in Seattle close to their son David and grandson Adam. They found property on nearby Bainbridge Island surrounded by wetlands and teaming with wildlife. Here David designed a house for them (constructed by Bill Corbin) that included a great room with a balance of windows to the wetlands and wall space for display of Barbara's artwork, and collected works of others. For the ensuing 9 years the great room was the scene of many gatherings with old and new friends. In 2005 Barbara and Bert sold their home on Bainbridge Island and purchased the other half of David's 2-flat duplex in Seattle's Queen Anne neighborhood. Although they had dearly loved their Bainbridge Island home, it was time to live in proximity with David and their grandson Adam. It was also at this time that David met the lovely Joan Provo, Bert and Barbara's soon-to-be daughter-in-law who was warmly embraced into the family. For nearly 20 years the family resided together at West Kinnear Place. And in time the proximity became essential as Bert and Barbara's need for care and assistance increased. Bert remained most comfortable when surrounded by his newspapers and magazines...and his bananas, consuming six or seven a day. Bert was gifted with an incredible memory into his late nineties and regaled us endlessly with stories from his early life during the Depression, his air force days, his brilliant career as a journalist, and his role in the California state capital as Deputy Secretary of State. Having had fascinating proximity to politicians and famous people of his era, Bert never ran short of material. Bert remained sage and philosophical, and a source of thoughtful advice about living with purpose and integrity. He was a guiding light. And his never-failing wry sense of humor and perspective always kept it interesting. Bert was a very loving and loyal person and a joy to his many friends and family. We miss him very much. Bert believed in luck. He had a habit of putting on his left shoe first during World War II to bring him good luck and keep him safe during bombing missions. Bert's son David and grandson Adam always put on their left shoe first as well. And as Bert would often declare when saying goodbye..."Good Luck". |
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LT John Stone Jenkins, Navigator, 833rd: 17 April 2023
John was born in Shreveport, Louisiana, to Robert Floyd Jenkins and Glena Pritchard Jenkins. Like so many other members of the "Greatest Generation," his childhood was not an easy one. In 1938 John's father was killed in an automobile accident and the bank foreclosed on their house. At age 14 he began delivering newspapers by bicycle, eventually taking on two routes and saving enough money to pay for a year of college at Texas A&M. In 1942, with money being tight, John transferred to Louisiana State University. Because of his ROTC training both at Byrd High School and in college, John was able to join the US Army Air Corps in 1943 as an officer. He was offered the opportunity to begin training as a pilot, bombardier, or navigator. He first tried his hand at piloting, but while training in San Marcos, Texas the flight instructor agreed to sign him off only if John promised never to fly as a pilot again. He ended up as a navigator of B-17s in the US Army Air Corps' 833rd Bomber Squadron, 486th Bomber Group. On his first mission, flying through heavy flak, his plane burst into flames, forcing him and the rest of the crew to parachute out over enemy lines. He had been instructed to count to ten before pulling his ripcord but, as he recalled, he only made it to five. He landed in a field in Belgium, evaded enemy capture, and found some US forces who were engaged in the Battle of the Bulge. John made his way back to Allied-occupied France, caught a flight to England, and got right back to navigating B-17s. Eventually he became a lead navigator for the squadron, and in 1945 was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. John started with the Melahn crew and transferred to the Martin crew. When World War II ended John returned to LSU and began taking courses in history and philosophy. Inspired by the German-American political philosopher Eric Voegelin, John became a voracious reader of books about Western political philosophy, intellectual history, and theology. This was also the time that he met the first love of his life, Mary Alice (Jones) Jenkins. After graduating from LSU in 1947, John and Mary attended the University of Chicago, where he earned a master's degree in Medieval history. After their marriage in 1949 they spent three years in Evanston, Illinois, where John attended and graduated from Seabury-Western Theological Seminary. It was here that they welcomed the birth of their first child, Ann. They then moved to New York, where he spent an additional year studying under the direction of Paul Tillich and Reinhold Niebuhr at Union Theological Seminary. While in New York, John served as chaplain of Leake and Watts, a home for troubled teenagers. Living with these energetic youngsters helped prepare him for his first full-time job as assistant headmaster and chaplain of St. Martin's Episcopal School in Metairie, Louisiana, a position he held from 1953 to 1962. During this time, John and Mary celebrated the birth of their second child, David. From 1962 to 1968 John served as the headmaster of All Saints' Episcopal School, a boarding school for high school girls in Vicksburg, Mississippi. It was during the All Saints' years that John first developed a love of boating. From 1968 to 1971 John served as the Dean of St. Andrew's Cathedral in Jackson, Mississippi, and from 1971 to 1984 he was Rector of Trinity Church in New Orleans, Louisiana. During these years John wrote a short book, What Think Ye of Jesus, which was published by The Episcopal Radio-TV Foundation. He also developed the Disciples of Christ (DOC) program, which was later incorporated into a number of Episcopal churches in the United States and is now known as the Disciples of Christ in Community (DOCC) program. The most significant post-Trinity development in John's life was his marriage in 1985 to Lynn Louise (Biggs) Jenkins, the daughter of Tom and Louise Biggs and the sister of Betty Allin and Jane Alexander. John and Lynn became faithful members of St. Peter's by-the-Lake in Brandon, Mississippi, and twice John stepped out of retirement to become interim rector of that church. They purchased an older, two-bedroom house on the Barnett Reservoir and set about making some much-needed renovations. They loved being on the water and soon added a dock for their lake boat. John and Lynn's marriage of 37 years was one of love and adventure. Together they navigated many rivers and seas, building special memories along the way. Here is a snapshot: John and Lynn on the bow sofa of the Jubilee, a 47-foot Chris-Craft Commander, anchored 300 feet to the south of Horn Island, barbecue pit lit, steaks marinating, Acker Bilk wafting from the stereo, vodka tonics (filled to the brim) close at hand. That's how it happened. Regularly. It was a lasting romance. Many of John's former St. Martin's and All Saints' students remember him as an inspiring teacher and mentor; his congregants at St. Andrew's and Trinity surely recall him as an extraordinary preacher and counselor; and his boating friends have their stories of happy times and daring escapades. His family's memories of him are the fondest of all. But everyone can agree on one thing: when John Jenkins was around, there was never a dull moment. We will miss you, Captain. John was predeceased by his parents, his brother, Robert Floyd Jenkins, Jr., his sister, Lillian Jenkins Conger, his first wife, Mary, who died in 1981, and his second wife, Lynn, who died in 2022. |
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CAPT Charles W. Havens, Air Inspector, 486th HQ: 13 January 2024 [No Obit] |
On April 17, 2023, The Reverend John Stone Jenkins, beloved husband, father, grandfather, educator, and Episcopal clergyman, passed away peacefully at the age of 98.