Floyd Allen Faircloth's Obituary
Services for Floyd Allen Faircloth, 91, of Longview will be 10 AM Wednesday, October 7, 2015 in the mausoleum of Rosewood Park Cemetery with burial following at Rosewood Park. Services are under the direction of Rader Funeral Home in Longview. Mr. Faircloth went home to be with his Lord and Savior on Friday afternoon in Longview. He was very special to those who knew him and lived his life to serve his family as a father, grandfather, great-grandfather and man of faith.
Floyd was born on January 17, 1924 in Kirvin, TX to Berry and Gladys Faircloth and was raised in Peatown, TX. He joined the Navy at age 17, one month before the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. He served as a Naval Aviator for 26 years, serving in World War II, the Korean War and Vietnam War, before retiring from the military. His duties included the mapping of the Alaskan Aleutian Islands and South America, Early Warning Squadron in the South Pacific, and project supervisor of the Naval Photographic Squadron in Washington D.C. He served as Lieutenant Commander and was one of the few existing CAPs (Chief Aviation Pilots) serving in World War II. He logged over 17,000 flight hours in his aviation career and set numerous Navy flight records. He loved to share stories of the Navy and he loved his country. Following retirement from the Navy, he served as a commercial pilot for Air Texas and was a private pilot for Delta Drilling Company of Tyler and John Robbins Oil Company of Longview. Floyd loved a good game of dominoes or acey deucey and spending precious time with his family.
Floyd is preceded in death by his wife of 63 years, Dolores; brother, James Berry Faircloth; sister, Retha Belle Faircloth; sister, Dorothy Jo Faircloth; brother, Charles Clifton Faircloth, and sister, Rose Marie Faircloth.
Those left to cherish his memory are his daughter, Barbara Stepp, of Longview; son and daughter-in-law, Wayne and Pauline Faircloth of Austin, TX; daughter and son-in-law, Susan and Jim Kranz of Longview; grandchildren, Michael Proud and wife Laura of Belmont, NC, Steven Faircloth and wife Laura of Austin, TX, Brooke Black and husband Daniel of Longview; great grandchildren, Ryan and Conner Proud of Belmont, NC, Emerson, Ava, and Kyler Black of Longview, and Cayden Rausheck and Mason Faircloth of Austin, TX; sister, Gladys Yvonne Bunt of Carthage, TX, and many other loving family and friends.
Honorary pallbearers include Michael Proud, Steven Faircloth, Jim Kranz, Daniel Black, Tommy Kokenzie, B.O. Harold, John Robbins, and J.P. Jones.
The family would like to thank Longview Regional Medical Center ICU, Summer Meadows Nursing Care Facility and Heart to Heart Hospice for their wonderful care.
In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the charity of choice.
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