Sydney Smith Pool Jr.

Final Flight on September 05, 2007

Ret. Major (USAF) Sydney Smith Pool Jr., 78, died Sept. 5, 2007, at his home in Wichita Falls, TX.

Visitation will be 7 to 8 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 11 at Lunn's Colonial Funeral Home.

Requiem Mass will be at 11 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 12 at The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd with the Very Rev. Scott R. Wooten, SSC, and the Rev. Canon

David E. Nyberg officiating. Interment will follow in The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd columbarium. Arrangements are under the direction of Lunn's

Colonial Funeral Home.

Syd was born March 3, 1929, in Brooklyn, N.Y., and grew up in Maywood, N.J. He married Shirley Fisher on June 21, 1952, at St. James Episcopal Church in Batavia, N.Y.He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1950, was commissioned in 1953, graduated from pilot training in 1954, and continued advance training in helicopters. He retired in 1970 after 20 years of service. He served as a helicopter pilot in the Vietnam War and was awarded the DFC, three Air Medals, and the Purple Heart among other citations. He thoroughly enjoyed his varied career in the military service. He served God in the church on the vestry and in the choir. He was a member of The Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, Order of Daedalians Flight #29, USAF Helicopter Pilot Association, and the Military Officers' Association. He formerly was a member of the North Texas Men's Chorus; Interfaith Ministries Inc.; Wisconsin Civil Air Patrol; BPO Elks Chapter 666, Watertown, Wis.; St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Watertown; and All Saints Episcopal Church, Wichita Falls. He had served as a volunteer at Concern Inc.He attended Clarkson College in Potsdam, N.Y., and graduated in 1981 from Wayland Baptist College in Wichita Falls. He was an avid bridge player, enjoyed music and the theater, and was fascinated and knowledgeable about words, their origin and uses.

Syd was preceded in death by his parents, Sydney Smith Pool Sr. and Sarah Evelyn Goodwin Pool; and a sister, Alice S. Pool Jesse.

Survivors include his wife, Shirley; two daughters, Stacey (Patrick) Regan of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Sherry (Mark) Harlass of Hurst, Texas; a son, Scott (Joy)

Pool of Arlington, Texas; and eight grandchildren. All will be present at the visitation.

"LOW FLIGHT"

by Syd Pool

Now I have flown where the air's so thin

Oxygen masks are needed by men.

And I have looped and rolled and soared

And leaned on Mach - and come home bored. Sooooo

Give others-greedy that Icarian stuff,

I'd rather drive the Sikorsky buff

Or woppity-wop in a bird from Bell;

That stiff-wing stuff just doesn't jel.

No "Contact!...Judy!" you'll hear from me.

But a chopper-duck dogfight's a sight to see.

On herding moose I could write a tome;

I've even helped the buffalo roam.

Yes, passenger-pilot is a fat occupation,

But I get my kicks with an auto-rotation.

No G-wrung piles will be my ration;

And low freq. rattles end constipation.

Someone said flight is high and fast

But seeing the world is a greater blast.

So let me hover for all I'm worth,

Reach out my hand, and touch the face of earth.

"FREEDOM ISN'T FREE"

~SOMEONE PAYS FOR YOU AND ME~

"HELICOPTERS" - THE ONLY WAY TO FLY

~NEVER FORGOTTEN~