This is my daddy. He was a blue-eyed bundle of contradictions, an awful lot like his daughter. He was an Army veteran, a no-nonsense businessman who ate, drank, and slept the Coca Cola Company, where he worked his way up from delivering soft drinks to Route Supervisor of the Jackson, MS. franchise. You did not drink Pepsi at our house, although my sister and I did do a "Coke vs Pepsi" taste test on him... and he chose Pepsi...twice! Yet at the same time he himself was a prankster, a practical joker who would do most anything for a laugh, including dressing up as a very convincing woman on a dare and going to the airport restaurant which my uncle managed, fooling everyone in there, my uncle egging him on. Wish I had film of that! He also got the biggest kick out of going to a drive in store, back in the 50's when there was such a thing, ordering a newspaper, then when the carhop brought it to him, pointing to his ear, where he'd put the nickel to pay for the newspaper. When the guy would reach to get it, he would whip his head around and snort at them, then try to hold back his laughter when the poor carhop jumped back, startled! That is a fond childhood memory.
Like me again, he would make up nonsense songs and sing them, line up my cousins and me and make US sing them, and was quite a storyteller, as my own children still remember wistfully. He adored golf, was an avid Ole Miss Rebels football fan, and enjoyed fishing and hunting as well.
Daddy was a Staff Sargeant in the 139th Army Air Force Base Unit, enlisting April 15, 1942, at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He received the American Theater Service Medal 1 Service Stripe, Good Conduct Medal GO 4 Hq 405 AAF BU 45, and the World War II Victory Campaign Medal Cir 326 WD 45. He was a Military Policeman #677, qualified to carry a Carbine E 44, and attended the Military Police Service School at Buckley Field, Colorado. He served his country for 3 years, 7 months and 10 days.
He passed away very suddenly. He had gone out the morning of February 9th to get in his car to go to the drugstore, stumbled and fell, and could not get up. We called an ambulance, despite his adamant protests, and his blood pressure was very low, so they took him to the hospital and admitted him. They ran many tests, and he seemed to be doing fine, but they kept him overnight, just as a precaution. He was supposed to come home the next day, but spiked a fever that morning, so he had to stay. My mom had just left the hospital when he died at 7:00 PM of heart failure. When they called us, she had just come home. They did not tell us he was gone, but that "they were working with him". We broke all speed limits getting back to the hospital, but it was too late. His heart just gave out... and he had a big heart. He never met a stranger. Everyone knew "Captain Burley" as they called him ever since his Army days. He will always be missed.
Like me again, he would make up nonsense songs and sing them, line up my cousins and me and make US sing them, and was quite a storyteller, as my own children still remember wistfully. He adored golf, was an avid Ole Miss Rebels football fan, and enjoyed fishing and hunting as well.
Daddy was a Staff Sargeant in the 139th Army Air Force Base Unit, enlisting April 15, 1942, at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He received the American Theater Service Medal 1 Service Stripe, Good Conduct Medal GO 4 Hq 405 AAF BU 45, and the World War II Victory Campaign Medal Cir 326 WD 45. He was a Military Policeman #677, qualified to carry a Carbine E 44, and attended the Military Police Service School at Buckley Field, Colorado. He served his country for 3 years, 7 months and 10 days.
He passed away very suddenly. He had gone out the morning of February 9th to get in his car to go to the drugstore, stumbled and fell, and could not get up. We called an ambulance, despite his adamant protests, and his blood pressure was very low, so they took him to the hospital and admitted him. They ran many tests, and he seemed to be doing fine, but they kept him overnight, just as a precaution. He was supposed to come home the next day, but spiked a fever that morning, so he had to stay. My mom had just left the hospital when he died at 7:00 PM of heart failure. When they called us, she had just come home. They did not tell us he was gone, but that "they were working with him". We broke all speed limits getting back to the hospital, but it was too late. His heart just gave out... and he had a big heart. He never met a stranger. Everyone knew "Captain Burley" as they called him ever since his Army days. He will always be missed.
This is my daddy. He was a blue-eyed bundle of contradictions, an awful lot like his daughter. He was an Army veteran, a no-nonsense businessman who ate, drank, and slept the Coca Cola Company, where he worked his way up from delivering soft drinks to Route Supervisor of the Jackson, MS. franchise. You did not drink Pepsi at our house, although my sister and I did do a "Coke vs Pepsi" taste test on him... and he chose Pepsi...twice! Yet at the same time he himself was a prankster, a practical joker who would do most anything for a laugh, including dressing up as a very convincing woman on a dare and going to the airport restaurant which my uncle managed, fooling everyone in there, my uncle egging him on. Wish I had film of that! He also got the biggest kick out of going to a drive in store, back in the 50's when there was such a thing, ordering a newspaper, then when the carhop brought it to him, pointing to his ear, where he'd put the nickel to pay for the newspaper. When the guy would reach to get it, he would whip his head around and snort at them, then try to hold back his laughter when the poor carhop jumped back, startled! That is a fond childhood memory.
Like me again, he would make up nonsense songs and sing them, line up my cousins and me and make US sing them, and was quite a storyteller, as my own children still remember wistfully. He adored golf, was an avid Ole Miss Rebels football fan, and enjoyed fishing and hunting as well.
Daddy was a Staff Sargeant in the 139th Army Air Force Base Unit, enlisting April 15, 1942, at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He received the American Theater Service Medal 1 Service Stripe, Good Conduct Medal GO 4 Hq 405 AAF BU 45, and the World War II Victory Campaign Medal Cir 326 WD 45. He was a Military Policeman #677, qualified to carry a Carbine E 44, and attended the Military Police Service School at Buckley Field, Colorado. He served his country for 3 years, 7 months and 10 days.
He passed away very suddenly. He had gone out the morning of February 9th to get in his car to go to the drugstore, stumbled and fell, and could not get up. We called an ambulance, despite his adamant protests, and his blood pressure was very low, so they took him to the hospital and admitted him. They ran many tests, and he seemed to be doing fine, but they kept him overnight, just as a precaution. He was supposed to come home the next day, but spiked a fever that morning, so he had to stay. My mom had just left the hospital when he died at 7:00 PM of heart failure. When they called us, she had just come home. They did not tell us he was gone, but that "they were working with him". We broke all speed limits getting back to the hospital, but it was too late. His heart just gave out... and he had a big heart. He never met a stranger. Everyone knew "Captain Burley" as they called him ever since his Army days. He will always be missed.
Like me again, he would make up nonsense songs and sing them, line up my cousins and me and make US sing them, and was quite a storyteller, as my own children still remember wistfully. He adored golf, was an avid Ole Miss Rebels football fan, and enjoyed fishing and hunting as well.
Daddy was a Staff Sargeant in the 139th Army Air Force Base Unit, enlisting April 15, 1942, at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He received the American Theater Service Medal 1 Service Stripe, Good Conduct Medal GO 4 Hq 405 AAF BU 45, and the World War II Victory Campaign Medal Cir 326 WD 45. He was a Military Policeman #677, qualified to carry a Carbine E 44, and attended the Military Police Service School at Buckley Field, Colorado. He served his country for 3 years, 7 months and 10 days.
He passed away very suddenly. He had gone out the morning of February 9th to get in his car to go to the drugstore, stumbled and fell, and could not get up. We called an ambulance, despite his adamant protests, and his blood pressure was very low, so they took him to the hospital and admitted him. They ran many tests, and he seemed to be doing fine, but they kept him overnight, just as a precaution. He was supposed to come home the next day, but spiked a fever that morning, so he had to stay. My mom had just left the hospital when he died at 7:00 PM of heart failure. When they called us, she had just come home. They did not tell us he was gone, but that "they were working with him". We broke all speed limits getting back to the hospital, but it was too late. His heart just gave out... and he had a big heart. He never met a stranger. Everyone knew "Captain Burley" as they called him ever since his Army days. He will always be missed.
