David Stallard

David Stallard, 91, of Whitney passed away Friday, January 13, 2017 at Hill Regional Hospital. Funeral services will be held at 2:00 P.M. Friday, January 20, 2017 at Clifton Funeral Home with Pastor Eddie Booth and Pastor Russell Penny officiating. Visitation will be one hour prior to the service at the funeral home. Burial at Clifton Memorial Park.

David was born June 26, 1925, the ninth of 10 children in a struggling farm family in the Appalachian Mountains of southwest Virginia. His earliest memories included going trapping with his mother to provide food in the Depression. His love of the outdoors endured, and he fished and hunted the rest of his life.

Early on, he saw the military as the path out of poverty. He lied about his age to enter a military program in Virginia but was found out weeks later and sent home. Then came World War II. He served in the Pacific Theater, including Saipan, in the Army Air Force.

After the war, he was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio. One night, at the USO, he spotted a beautiful young woman with wavy brown hair and striking blue eyes -- Elnora "Ellie" Wells. Both 21, they wed two months later, a marriage that lasted until Ellie's death 52 years later.

When he left the service, he faced a crossroads: a job at a dairy or taking a chance with a new outfit in San Antonio -- American Airlines. He was with American for 37 years, starting as a baggage handler, then moving to gate and ticket agent. He transferred to Greater Southwest, where Zsa Zsa Gabor slept atop his ticket counter, then to DFW International when the big airport opened in 1974.

After retiring, he and Ellie moved from Fort Worth to Lake Whitney, where he spent his days fishing and tending his garden. He stuck by Ellie's side through her Alzheimer's, and had a couple of rough years after her death. Then a God moment: He was filling up at the gas station when honeybees buzzed a lady at a nearby pump. He fought off the bees -- he was an experienced beekeeper -- and asked for her phone number. Amazingly, the very proper schoolteacher gave him her number. At 75, he married Patricia and became an active member of her church, Prairie Valley Baptist. He also served as president of McCown Valley Community Center.

He outlived all his siblings and one grandson, Scott Tozier. He is survived by Patricia; two daughters, Linda Stallard Johnson (husband Walter) of Arlington and Tamara Pretorius of Port Aransas; three grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

Condolences may be made at www.cliftonfh.com