Earl Dean Milton

Dallas, Frisco, family, the veterans of WWII and the DFW Honor Flight have lost a beloved member and faithful servant. Earl Milton, a dear friend, beloved father and grandfather, tireless servant, WWII B-29 navigator, Investment Counselor, Oil Land Man, TCA alumni parent and long-time TCA supporter, went home to be with the Lord on Monday, October 10. His wife of 56 years, Betty, went home to the Lord the afternoon of October 9, only nine hours and 25 minutes before his passing, both passing of natural causes. They were truly one (“For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one.” Mark 10: 7-8).

Earl was born in Mexia, Texas and later raised in Henderson, Texas where he attended Gaston High School and was president of his class. When he turned 18, he enlisted in the Army Air Corp and went to school to navigate B-29 bombers. Earl was in the 73rd Bomb wing, 499th bomb group, 877th squadron and flew 24 missions over Japan in WWII. He stayed in the service after the war in the newly formed Air Force, and was part of the Berlin Air Lift. He was also on secret missions as one of the crews chosen to track the Atomic bomb testing of Bikini Atoll, by flying through the radioactive cloud. After one mission, the Air Force looked at his radiation badge and said “you’re done flying through the cloud.” He never suffered consequences from that! Earl retired from military service as a Captain, and then went to Centenary College and the University of Texas, studying Finance. After graduating, he moved to New York to work on Wall Street.

Earl met Betty in 1955 in New York, while he was working on Wall Street, and she was working at the Brooklyn Public Library. The two soon started dating, and soon after that, Earl was offered a position in Dallas as an Investment Counselor with Campbell Henderson and Co. Earl eventually rose to president of the Investment Counseling firm. In the early 1970's Earl was named "Investment Counselor of the Year" by The Wall Street Journal. He later worked for the Baptist Foundation as a consultant on setting up their pension plans, as he did with many other firms. During his tenure with Campbell Henderson, he had the opportunity to meet with the Wynn brothers, founders of Six Flags, and was one of their consultants. He later went on to be involved with the Oil and Gas industry as a land man seeking and negotiating leases.

Whenever a grandchild was born (Daniel, Michael and Rachel), Earl just beamed. As young Daniel grew, you could find the two of them sitting outside, on stools, just watching nature take place. Few words exchanged, but they were happy together. Earl played creatively with each of his grandchildren as they were growing up, setting up race tracks down the stairs of their house, or creating new ways to play with a bat and ball, and wind-up airplanes were ever-present. Hide and seek was always entertaining, as were tickle fests.

Earl and Betty continued to attend the 73rd Bomb Wing reunions through the years, as well as return, every year they could, to the Gaston High School reunions. He kept up with friends from Gaston as well as military buddies. In May of 2011, he was honored by the DFW Honor Flight and taken, with his son as his escort, to Washington DC to see the WWII memorial. He had a wonderful time. Everywhere they went, people applauded this group of brave men and women who so courageously served our country, and are known as “The Greatest Generation.”

Earl and Betty together attended and served at Stonebriar Community Church until recently, where you could see them on Sunday morning, greeting everyone who entered at the west doors of the building. Occasionally, the wind would be so strong that it pushed the door closed, and scooted Betty along with it, but they always met you with a smile.

In May of 2011, Earl got to see the memorials of Washington DC, thanks to the Honor Flight organization. Honor Flight is a charitable organization that honors the veteran and their service to this country by taking veterans to Washington DC to tour the WWII memorial and other memorials. It was quite an emotional journey for Earl, who commented upon his return that it was the best thing anyone had ever done for him.

Earl is survived by two children, Randy Milton and wife Laura, their three children Daniel, Michael and Rachel, and Laurel Milton Chooljian and husband Andrew, two sisters Judy Watkins and husband Murray, Billie Jo Parker and husband James, and numerous nieces and nephews. His two brothers, Neal Milton and Wayne Milton, and his parents Walter and Ada Milton preceded Earl in death and he joins them in the Lord.

In lieu of flowers the family asks that donations be made to Trinity Christian Academy

Please make checks payable to Trinity Christian Academy and designate on the check or with a written note: “In Memory of Betty Milton for Upper School Library” or “In Memory of Betty Milton for Student Tuition Aid” and mail to: Trinity Christian Academy

Office of Development

17001 Addison Road

Addison, Texas 75001

OR

DFW Honor Flight, an organization honoring veterans, via their website at http://honorflightdfw.org/donations