Joseph Lawrence Troutman

He was born in Concordia, Kentucky on June 22, 1921, of John William and Ethel Troutman, and passed on August 22, 2015, aged 94 years.

He joined the Army Air Force in 1942 and served in northern and southern France, in the Rhineland, and in the Ardennes, and was discharged in 1945. He was a radar mechanic and a radio operator on B24 Mitchell bombers.

After he was discharged, he met and married Myriam Berger on August 9, 1945, and together in Virginia they raised four daughters – Sharon, twins Marilyn and Myra, and Jo Ann.

Even while raising the girls, he went back to school, culminating in a PhD in plant pathology from the University of Wisconsin. He then went to work at Virginia Tech as an Agricultural Extension Agent, and later at the University of Arizona, again as an Agricultural Extension Agent, operating a citrus research station.

His hobbies included rock hounding, jewelry making, hunting, ham radios, wine making, energy solutions and metal detecting.

He was preceded in death by his wife Myriam and daughters Jo Ann and Marilyn, and his second wife Charlotte. He is survived by his daughters Sharon Thomson of The Woodlands, Texas and Myra Spence of Helotes, Texas, by his granddaughters Jennifer Hollis of Magnolia, Texas and Stephanie Adams of the Woodlands, Texas, and great grandchildren Dean Allen, Delilah and Rachel Hollis of Magnolia, Texas and Kyle, Jeremy, Madelynn and Blake Adams of The Woodlands, Texas.

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made in his name to the Veterans of Foreign Wars or the American Cancer Society.