Col. George E. French, Jr – Dec 30, 1921 – Oct 11, 2015
George E. French, Jr, (Colonel USAF, retired) age 93, passed away
peacefully at his home in Venice, Florida on October 11, 2015.
A funeral Mass will be offered on Tuesday, October 20, 2015 at 10:00am
at Our Lady Of Prompt Succor church in Alexandria, LA. Internment
will follow in Greenwood Memorial Park.
Mr. French was born on December 30, 1921 to Marguerite Kelsoe French
and George E. French, Sr. He was predeceased by his parents, his
brother Edwin, his sister, Sider Krison French, and the mother of his
seven children, Jayne McCready French. He was very proud of his
surviving six sons and one daughter, George III (Jenny), Jean Marie
Smith (Bryan), John (Fay), David (Mary Alice), Thomas, Mark
(Leslie) and Daniel. He is also survived by 11 grandchildren and 4
great-grandchildren.
George spent most of his adult life in the US Air Force, starting out
in 1942 at Foster Field in Victoria, Texas .
He flew 45 missions in the B-24 “Liberator” in WWII as part of the
“Long Rangers” of the 370th Squadron, 307th Bomb Group, 13th Air
Force. In his return to civilian life after the war, George attended
LSU, spent a year with Delta Airlines, and received his BS in
Accounting from the University of Colorado. He received his MBA from
the University of Texas, re-entered the ranks of the Air Force, and
was Liaison Officer with the Auditor General’s office for the US Air
Force Academy. Command and Staff School followed, as well as Air War
College in Montgomery, Alabama. After a stint at the Pentagon,
heading up the F104G “Starfighter” program, George retired from his
beloved Air Force and moved his family to Dallas, Texas. He was the
program director at LTV for the A-7 “Corsair II” Navy fighter jet.
After spending several years in the real estate business in Dallas,
he retired for good and moved to Florida.
George was a gallant ladies man, a gourmet cook, an expert skier, a
sports aficionado, and a graceful ballroom dancer. He had a life-long
love affair with okra, gumbo, shrimp, craw fish, French bread and
martinis. He excelled at so many different things, from cooking to
flying to skiing to dancing to gardening to beating his seven children
at Spades, Dominoes and Scrabble. His charity extended from orphans
in Mexico to the children of Boys Town. He was always a true
“Southern gentleman”. The most important things in life to him,
besides his children, were Faith and Love. As his body failed him,
his mind was forever spinning out stories of days gone by. He could
watch and keep up with what was playing on three TV’s simultaneously.
He had a love for all things sports-related, and his “bets” with his
sons were generally right-on!
George liked to think that he was still the “Colonel” in dealing with
his children and grand-children…hence the name they all called
him…”Colonel George”! His heart was big, and his hatred of broccoli
and liver even bigger. He never uttered a curse word, and his
devotion to Our Lord and the Catholic Church was unimpeachable. One
of his greatest joys was lectoring at Sunday Mass. He is now flying
high into the wild, blue yonder…and we have to say…”He did it his
way.”
