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- Bob Neal & Sons ? Brinkley Funeral Home
Lt. Colonel Earl James Sam Bass (Included picture)
February 24, 1921 ? September 30, 2010
Lt. Colonel Earl James (Sam, Buddy, Colonel) Bass (Retired Air Force) 89, passed away peacefully at his home in Marvell, Arkansas on September 30, 2010. Earl Bass is survived by his ?wonderful wife of sixty-seven years?, Clara Bass; his sister, Virginia Bourke of Boise, ID; and his brother and his wife, Calvin and Lillian Bass of Longview, TX; his three daughters and their husbands, Karen and Ron Demmin of Cobden, IL; Betty and John Armstrong of Pecos TX; and Ruth and Bernard Burgess of Bee Branch, AR; ten grandchildren elven great grandchildren, and many nieces, nephews, other relatives, friends and neighbors. Mr. Bass was born and reared in Marvell, AR, the son of James H. and Nortah Tawney Bass. He was preceded in death by his parents, two sisters, Major Pauline Lucas and Lucille Bass; by a brothers. Sgt. Carl Bass; and by two children, Earl James Bass Jr. and Kathleen Seavey Stephenson. Earl Bass joined the Army Air Corp in 1941 and served in the United States Air Force for twenty-nine years and 3 months. This service included tours of duty in the European theater during WWII where he flew the B26 and the A26 for 37 missions and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross among other medals. He participated in the Berlin Air Lift. During his career, the Colonel served at Greenville Army Air Base, SC; Rhein Mein, Germany; Enid, OK; Westover Air Force Base, MA; Turner Air Force Base, GA; Maxwell Air Force Base, AL; six years at the Pentagon in Washington, DC; three years at Central Coordinating Staff ? USAF in Ottawa, Canada; Scott Air Force Bas, IL and Dover Air Force Base, DE where he was a Command Pilot flying C141 Star Lifters into Viet Nam. Lt. Colonel Bass retired from the Air Force in 1969. During civilian life, Earl continued to fly as in instructor pilot and a crop duster. He also flew for Totem Airways in Alaska as a bush pilot flying hunters and fisherman into remote areas and musing lakes as runways! Other civilian interests included the Arkansas Civil Air Patrol, the National Rifle Association, National Trappers Association, the Military Officers Association of America, 391st Bobm Group Assocation, and the B26 Marauder Historical Assocation, and the Methodist Men?s Felloswhip. ?God?s great outdoors? was another of Sam Bass?s passions. Whether he was fishing, hunting, trapping, tending pecan and fruit trees, or arrowhead hunting, he loved the out-of-doors and loved to share it with family and friends young and old. He also loved the Marvell United Methodist Church, which he began attending at the age of three. Visitation for Earl Bass will be at the Bob Neal Funeral Home, Hwy 49, in Marvell, AR Sunday October 3 from 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. Funeral services will be at the Marvell United Methodist Church, Hwy 49 Monday October 4 starting at 10:00 a.m. They will be followed by burial services will full military honrs at Eventide Cemetery also in Marvell. Memorial in honor of Earl Bass may be made to the Marvell United Methodist Church, P.O. Box 669, Marvell, AR 73266; to the Marvell Cemetery Association P.O. Box 205, Marvell, AR; or to a charity of your choice.
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Bassett Family Association Database
1921 - 2010 (89 years)