OBITUARY: John Lester Waldrip, 90, of Bertram dies Oct. 9, 2013
John Lester Waldrip, 90, of Bertram, Texas, passed away Oct. 9, 2013. He was born in Weatherford, Texas, on Oct. 1, 1923, the son of Frank Rayford and Willie Mae Dozier Waldrip.
John is survived by wife, Gayle; daughters, Jan Biffle and husband Les of Cave Creek, Ariz., Carol Hamilton and husband Donny of Smithville and Kay Susie Teague and husband Brad of Midlothian; sons, John Waldrip Jr. of Fort Worth and Mike Morgan and wife Ginger and Mark Morgan and wife Julie, all of Bertram. He also is survived by 10 grandchildren, Lorie Baez and husband John of Austin, Shannon Strong-Lerma and husband Fernando of Lakeway, Tim Morgan of Leander, Joni Morgan of Burnet, Jenni Roemisch and husband Matt of Abilene, Cliff Biffle and wife Jeannette of Berkeley, Calif., Adam Biffle of Peoria, Ariz., Casey Eason of Fort Worth, Stephanie Baker and husband Kevin of Little Elm and Kylie Lindsey and husband Kevin of Midlothian; and 10 great-grandchildren.
After graduating from high school, John started college at Schreiner Institute in Kerrville. On Dec. 7, 1941, the bombing of Pearl Harbor caused him to enlist in the Army-Air Corp as an aviation cadet. After training at Sheppard Air Force Base, Ellington Field, Las Vegas and Florida, he became a bombardier. He was assigned to a B-17 crew and was shipped to England, where his crew joined the 490th Bomb Group.
After 35 missions and the end of World War II, he went into the insurance business for a short time before joining the Texas National Guard. His military career continued for 36 years before he retired as a brevet brigadier general, chief of staff, 49th Armored Division. He received many awards and decorations, one of which was the Legion of Merit.
After retiring from the military, he worked as a paralegal in Austin for five years before again retiring to raise cattle in Burnet County.
John was ill for quite some time with congestive heart failure, and the last time he was in the hospital he told one of the nurses he had two goals in life: One was to live until Oct. 1, when he would celebrate his 90th birthday (he made that goal); and the other was to live until Oct. 12, when he and Gayle would celebrate their 50th anniversary (he missed that goal by three days, but his memorial service is being held on that day to honor his wish.)
A memorial service is 3 p.m. Oct. 12 at Clements-Wilcox Funeral Home, 306 Texas 29 East in Burnet, (512) 756-2222, with son-in-law Brad Teague conducting.
Go to www.clementswilcoxburnet.com to offer condolences.