A V Wacasey

A.V. WACASEY, 94, of Paris, died Saturday September 15, 2012 at his residence in Paris Oaks Assisted Living following a lengthy illness. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 p.m. Tuesday September 18, 2012 in the chapel of Starrett Funeral Home with Rev. Charlotte Coyle officiating. Interment will follow in Meadowbrook Gardens.

A time of visitation will be held at the funeral home for one hour prior to the service.

A.V. was born June 9, 1918 in the English community of Red River County, the only child of Alfred V. and Bessie Lee Wacasey.

He graduated from Paris High School in 1936. He was a veteran of World War II, earning the Bronze Cluster, flying thirty-five missions over Germany as the ball turret gunner on B-17 bombers. He bailed out over Belgium six times due to engine failures and crash-landed in Dover, England with most of the tail of his plane missing. He returned home from combat on May 5, 1945. After returning from war he was employed as office manager of Commercial Credit Corporation, then on October 1, 1960 he joined the firm of Mackey & Pierson insurance Co. as loan manager. He retired on December 23, 1983. On January 1, 1984 he returned to Mackey, Pierson & Fendley as a part-time inspector/photographer, retiring the second time in April, 2000. He was a faithful member of First Christian Church for over seventy years.

On May 18, 1945 he married Regina Jo Smith, who preceded him in death in May, 2003 after fifty-seven very special years together. In addition to his wife, he was preceded in death by his father in 1918, who was a victim of the Spanish Flu epidemic, then by his mother, in 1969.

A.V. is survived by his cousin J.D. Dickey and wife Nancy and children Debbie Rippy, Craig Dickey and Allen Dickey; a niece, Patsy Mullens Vanderpool; his buddy Gerald Byas and wife Pat; his Godchild, Ali Byas; and other special friends, including Sue Stegall Boyd, Karol Asay, Mark Thurman, Bryan Thurman, Dr. Joe D. Thurman and wife Trish, Peggy Morgan, Mendy Morgan, Vickie Wilkin, Cathy Henry, Cletta Mathis, and many others, whom he loved.

Special thanks is extended to the management and staff of Paris Oaks Assisted Living, for giving A.V. the loving home and care he enjoyed so much for the past two years.

In lieu of usual remembrances, A.V. wished for memorial gifts to be given to Brenda's Room and Groom, 3342 N.E. Loop 286, Paris, TX 75460 to help them find homes for abandoned animals. A.V. sends his thanks to Brenda Nafe for her love and for finding homes for his cats.