James Lillard,

Retired USAF Colonel James Warren Lillard, Jr. died Tuesday at his home in Tyler. Graveside services are scheduled for Friday, December 5, 2008 at 11:00 AM at Rose Hill Cemetery under the direction of Stewart Family Funeral Home. James Warren Lillard, Jr., was born on November 13, 1919 in Decatur, Texas to James Warren and Mildred Lynch Lillard. He moved to Dallas in 1933 and graduated from Highland Park High School in 1936. He attended Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas. He was a member of Kappa Alpha Fraternity. He joined the United States Army Air Corps in May 1940 and received his wings and commission as a 2nd Lieutenant at Kelly Field in San Antonio in December 1940. He was a flight instructor in early World War II. In 1944 he was sent to New Caledonia to fly for Headquarters USAF in the South Pacific. After the war, Col. Lillard attended the USAF Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson AF Base in Dayton, Ohio, where he received his aeronautical engineering degree. He spent most of his post-war career at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base where he was weapon systems project officer on the F-86 and F-100 airplanes and at Andrews Air Force Base where he was headquarters staff officer for fighter and research aircraft, and was an early proponent of All Weather Flying. He had two post-war overseas tours: as an exchange officer at RAF Manby, Louth, Lincolnshire, England, and at the NATO Defense College and Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers in Europe (SHAPE) in Paris, France. Col. Lillard retired at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida on February 29, 1968 and moved to Tyler that day. In Tyler, he had a second career as a homebuilder. He was a member of Marvin United Methodist Church and Willow Brook County Club. He is survived by his wife of sixty-six years, Dorothy Smith Lillard; daughter, Dottie Hairston and her husband, Jim Hairston of Tyler; three granddaughters and three great-granddaughters: Dee Dee Hairston Patterson and husband Bob Patterson and daughter Emily Longoria; Barbara Hairston Haslett and daughter Anna, all of Tyler; and Katie Hairston Kennedy and husband Chuck Kennedy and daughter Lilly of Houston. He is also survived by two nieces: June Colville Hillis and husband Steve Hillis of Tyler and Mille Colville Henderson and husband Scott Henderson of Dallas. Visitation is scheduled for Thursday, December 4, 2008 from 5:30 – 7:00 PM at Stewart Family Funeral Home, 7525 Old Jacksonville Highway in Tyler.

James Lillard,

November 13, 1919 - December 2, 2008