1924 – 2019
Our beloved husband, father, grandfather, and great grandfather passed away Saturday, March 16, 2019, at the age of 94, in Austin, TX.
James Pascal Womack (aka Jim) was born October 27th, 1924 in Decatur, Texas to Lewis Clayton Womack and Lela Viola Womack. He was the 2nd of three children. He lived part of his preschool years in Hall County near Memphis until the family returned to farm near Decatur before he started school. We loved to hear him tell about riding a horse every day to the school in Boyd, where he graduated in 1941 and was Class President and Director of the School Bank (anyone who knows my father well knows they picked the right man for that job!)
After completing his freshman year of college, as did many of the young men during World War II, he struggled to convince his father to sign the Army form attesting to the fact that his age was 18 and consenting to his enlistment. His father had been with the 345th Machine Gun Battalion on the Western Front of World War I and did not want him to face what he had faced. He finally relented though, and Jim enlisted as a Buck Private on July 10th, 1942. He trained for and became a Flight Engineer assigned with the 70th Ferrying Squadron, ferrying B-26 Marauders, as well as other planes, first from Miami and then from Nashville to India and back. In mid-1945, he applied for and was accepted for training as a commissioned B-29 flight Engineer with a new passenger/freight transport operation based at Miami. Shortly after he was sent for training, the war came to an end and the B-29 Flight Engineers program disappeared! So, he then reenlisted in his rank of Master Sgt. In his words “Master Sgts. were a dime a dozen after the war”. He was assigned to be a clerk in the Intelligence Division of Headquarters 8th Air Force, then at Carswell AFB in Fort Worth. In 1948 he applied for a commission in a program that granted reserve commissions. In the fall of 1948, as a Master Sgt, 1, with a reserve rank of 2nd Lt., he applied to a program to be a full commissioned officer and was selected. His first commissioned assignment was as an Intelligence Officer in SAC’s 43rd Bomb Wing at Davis Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona. Finally, the day came when as an NCO in the Intelligence Directorate of Hdq., 8th AF, he received his discharge as a Master Sgt, said goodbyes to his co-workers in the 8th AF and jumped in his new Chevy for the drive to the 43d Bomb Wing at Tucson. He told the story that at straight up midnight he pulled the car off the road somewhere in West Texas. According to Air Force orders his new rank of 2nd Lt. was effective, by golly! He retrieved his new green blouse adorned with gold 2nd Lt’s. bars put it on and drove the remainder of the night as one of the Air Force’s Officers! He pulled into Davis Monthan and started a new life. Taking courses while later stationed in Omaha and finishing through extension courses, he eventually received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Nebraska.
After Jim retired from the Air Force in 1963, he worked 10 years for General Dynamics and then 10 years with the Civil Service as an accountant/auditor for the Department of Defense and Department of the Navy, first in Washington, DC and later in Texas. He finally retired around 1985.
James married Verna Juanice Ward of Boyd, Texas on February 11, 1945. They had two daughters, Sheila Ann and Deborah Kay. He cared dearly about his family; always striving to provide and make the best decisions for them. He enjoyed teaching and showing us many things. When his grandson arrived, it became clear there was nothing he wouldn’t do for him!
He is predeceased by his mother and father; oldest daughter, Dr. Sheila Womack; brother, Fred Womack; sister, Sue Smith; brother- in- law, Herbert Smith and niece, Leslie Kay Smith.
He is survived by what he called his “sweet wife”, Juanice; daughter and son-in-law, Dr. Dudley and Deborah Hodgkins; grandson and wife, James and Marissa Hodgkins; great-granddaughters, Claire and Emma Hodgkins; nephew and wife, Jim Bob and Marlene Smith; sister-in-law, Audene Schoch; and nephew and wife, Steve and Bekki Schoch.
He is also survived by Dudley’s Austin family that “adopted” Jim and Juanice when they moved from Ft. Worth to Austin 16 years ago and call them
Granddaddy & Grandmommy: Amy & Jeff Sasser and daughters Katherine & Hally; Tracy & John Mol and son Foster, and Mary Kay & Pete Becher and sons, Ryan & Ian
We are forever grateful to Silverado Onion Creek Memory Care, where Jim and Juanice have resided the last two years. In my opinion, no better care was ever given by everyone at Silverado, regardless of their position. They made it truly a home. We would also like to thank Resolution Hospice for their excellent and compassionate care of Daddy as well.
A Visitation will be held Saturday, March 23, 2019 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM with a Funeral starting at 1:00 PM at Cook-Walden/Forest Oaks Funeral Home in Austin, Texas. A Graveside Service will be held Monday, March 25, 2019 in Boyd Cemetery in Boyd, Texas.
