Obit of Eden, Lewis Ray - Pittsburg County, Oklahoma Submitted by: Gene Phillips 7 May 2006 Return to Pittsburg County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/pittsburg/pittsburg.htm ========================================================================== USGENWEB NOTICE Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm ========================================================================== ::Laurel Land Memorial Park--Fort Worth TX Eden, Lewis Ray Lewis Ray Eden, 83, a retired U.S. Air Force chief warrant officer, passed away Friday, Dec. 9, 2005, in Fort Worth. Funeral: 2 p.m. Thursday in Laurel Land Memorial Chapel of Fort Worth. Burial: Laurel Land Memorial Park. Visitation: 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at Laurel Land Funeral Home. Memorials: In lieu of flowers, the family requests charitable contributions in his honor to Vitas Hospice Care Fund, 2501 Parkview Drive, Suite 600, Fort Worth, Texas 76102; or Church of Christ Disaster Relief, in care of Western Hills Church of Christ, 8800 Chapin Road, Fort Worth, Texas 76116. Mr. Eden was born in Stilwell, Okla., the first son of Troy U. and Julia Pearl Eden. In 1934, the family settled in McAlester, Okla., where he met and later married Opal Jewel McElhaney. In 1938, at the age of 16, he enlisted in the first National Guard division to be called to active service in World War II by President Roosevelt. On Nov. 15, 1941, he married his sweetheart, Opal, and made the choice to decline his flying career. He then was assigned in 1942 to the China-Burma-India theater and served as a logistics manager with Gen. Chennault's "Flying Tigers." After the war, he returned to McAlester and helped re-organize the local National Guard unit. He re-enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Force in 1947, after the birth of his first two children. He was appointed a regular Air Force warrant officer in November 1948 and served in Okinawa, Texas, Portugal and the U.S. Air Force headquarters, where he served under Lt. Gen. Tom Gerrity as a chief of systems and logistics. He retired at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C., after 26 years of service as a CWO W-4. He later worked with Honeywell Inc. in Virginia, and in 1967 he returned with his family to his "hometown," Martin, until his retirement in February 1984. After his retirement he was an avid participant in the West Side chapter of AARP and Tarrant Senior Alliance and Area Agency on Aging. Lewis was a fervent University of Oklahoma supporter and never missed an OU game on TV. He was active in Western Hills Church of Christ, cherished his wife and children, and loved to spoil his many grandchildren. He was an officer and a gentlemen, a caring father and a great "Santa Claus," and we will miss him greatly. Lewis was preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Opal Jewel Eden. Survivors: Children, Michael Terry Eden and wife, Linda Ruth, Evelyn Rachel Wortham and husband, James, Steven Walter Eden and wife, Linda Kaye, and Lewis Troy Eden and wife, Beverly; sisters, Lola, Ruth and Faye; 13 grandchildren; and 19 great-grandchildren. Published in the Star-Telegram on 12/13/2005. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Return to Pittsburg County Archives: http://www.usgwarchives.net/ok/pittsburg/pittsburg.htm