Buel Woodrow Woolverton

Lieutenant Colonel (Retired) Buel Woodrow Woolverton: Buel Woodrow Woolverton, United States Air Force Lieutenant Colonel (Retired), 80, passed away peacefully and surrounded by family early on the morning of November 29, 2011 at Redlands Community Hospital. Buel was born April 2, 1931 in Austin/Formosa County, Arkansas to Wayne Austin and Gladys Lena Woolverton. Buel was preceded by his brother, Billie Gene Woolverton (deceased) and followed by his three sisters, Glenna (Woolverton) Breedlove (deceased), Joan Carole (Woolverton) Freeman, and Brenda Kay Woolverton (deceased). Buel grew up in Missouri later attending the Missouri School of Mines and Metallurgy. He enlisted in the U.S. Air Force in 1950, completed helicopter training, and participated in the Korean Conflict in the Air Rescue Service. The Air Force sent him back to school to get a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering at the University of Arizona. Additionally, he was later sent to Air Command and Staff College in Alabama. He was assigned to the Air Force Ballistic Missiles program at Norton A.F.B. later served at the Pentagon working in technical intelligence. He was then sent to Viet Nam as an Air Commando/Special Operations helicopter pilot. After service in Viet Nam he spent the last years of active duty in the Air Force ballistic missile programs. He retired in 1979 and later began a second career with the San Bernardino County Flood Control Department retiring in 2009. Buel is survived by his bride of fifty-five years, Beverly Joan Woolverton; his children, Russell K. Woolverton (deceased), Joe and Karen (Woolverton) Dean, Dale and Pam (Woolverton) Whitehurst, Michelle Woolverton and partner Betty Vasquez; and his grandchildren, Laura Whitehurst, Hannah Woolverton, Wesley Hasting, Matthew Woolverton, Kaitlin Whitehurst, Ryan Hasting, Megan Whitehurst, Taylor Hasting, Sarah Whitehurst, and Haley Whitehurst. Buel was a beloved man whose legacy will forever live in the hearts of those whose lives he touched. Peace is found in his returning home to Heaven with the Lord Almighty. Private High Honor Military service will be held at the Riverside National Cemetery in Riverside, CA in the morning on December 13, 2011; Memorial service to follow that day, 3:00 pm at Emmerson-Bartlett Mortuary in Redlands, CA.