|
E.C. 'Chris' Falwell |
| October 9, 1920 ~ March
5, 2012 |
|
March 13, 2012 |
"I have fought a good
fight, I have finished my course, I have kept
the faith.
--I Timothy 2:4-7
 E.C.
"Chris" Falwell passed away on Monday, March 5,
2012 at his daughter's home in Bonners Ferry,
Idaho. He was 91 years old.
Born in October 1920 to Frank and Jennie Mae
Falwell of Edna, Texas, he was the third oldest
of six children.
Life was tough during the Great Depression, and
he worked hard to help support his family. Chris
dropped out of high school and at 18 enlisted in
the Army's 2nd Cavalry Division, the horse drawn
field artillery. His favorite mount was an
incorrigible Morgan horse named Smokie.
Discharged after three years, he immediately
re-enlisted when Pearl Harbor was bombed
December 7, 1941.
In 1943, at 22 years of age, Chris earned his
wings in the new Army Air Corps as a "Gliderman"
at Twentynine Palms, California. He was soon
deployed via the Queen Mary, now outfitted for
the military, to Aldermaston, England, where he
was stationed as a Flight Officer in the 434th
Troop Carrier Group, 71st Squadron, Ninth Air
Force Transport Group.
It was here that a boogie-woogie piano playing
flight nurse named Jeanne Brown caught his eye.
On June 5, 1944, Chris proposed to Jeanne.
At midnight he piloted Waco GC-4A glider #13 to
the Normandy Peninsula during Operation Overlord
at the Battle of Normandy, carrying troopers of
the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions with their
equipment to landing areas behind enemy lines.
He returned six days later to Aldermaston, then
on September 17 he flew glider No. 1 over
Eindhoven, Holland, for Operation Market Garden.
After the war and back in the States, Chris and
Jeanne were married and enjoyed over sixty years
together until separated by Jeanne's death at
age 84 in 2005.
Tours of duty after WWll included Shemya,
Alaska, Taiwan and the Philippines.
With over twenty years of service to his
country, Chris retired with the rank of Major at
Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois but was soon
recruited by RCA as a security manager for the
Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (the DEW
Line) in Alaska.
Four years later he became employment manager
for RCA in Cherry Hill, New Jersey.
Finally, in 1972, Chris and Jeanne packed up and
drove to Grass Valley, California, in the Sierra
foothills until moving to Idaho in 2005. In
Grass Valley they purchased a 100 year old house
and he completely revitalized it. Chris was
quite a carpenter, and both he and Jeanne loved
to "pick" for antiques, and collect Native
American rugs from Canyon de Chelly, New Mexico
and Crownpoint, Arizona.
Chris is survived by daughters Christine
Vergoglini of Kootenai, Carolyn (and Dennis)
O'Connor of Sandpoint, and Connie (and Brad)
Holifield of Bonners Ferry; grandchildren Joanne
Kopsick, Guy, Rocco and Genaro Vergoglini of New
Jersey, Jeanne and John Holifield of Alaska;
sister Delores Jean (and Ken) Ewing of Hot
Springs, Arkansas, and brother Frank (and Ruth)
Falwell of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; many nephews
and nieces ... Kathie, Sherry and Suzie were
especially dear.
Chris was preceded in death by his beloved wife
Jeanne, his grandson Harlan Felton, his parents,
his brother Bill and sisters Louise and Dorothy.
Many, many thanks to those caregivers who eased
Chris' last months and blessed his family as
well — Jeff, Rexcene, Linda, Cherilyn, Bonner
Community Hospice, and Dr. Frasier King, along
with many friends and neighbors.
Chris was a very private, hardworking man, and a
good communicator; he had a profound sense of
duty to his family and his country.
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