Lillian Louise Puckett

Born on December 1st, 1931 in Murphysboro, Illinois to Harry and Lillie Bailey. She was the youngest of 5 children. Her mother died when she was an infant and she spent her childhood in the Hudelson Baptist Children's Home in Centralia, Illinois. She attended Alton Memorial Hospital School of Nursing in Alton, Illinois, with affiliations in Chicago, Illinois. Upon graduation she was commissioned a 2nd lieutenant in the Air Force Nurse Corps during the end of the Korean conflict. Her first assignment was Lackland AFB Hospital in San Antonio, Texas. She retired a Lt. Colonel after 23 years of active and reserve service, which included time in the Vietnam War. Along with her nursing degree she obtained both a B.S. Degree and Master's Degree in Health and Hospital Management and Administration from Southwest Texas University. During her Air Force Career, she was an obstetrical / neonatology nurse, flight nurse, chief nurse of a medical unit, and Administrative Nurse of the Central Reserve Region. As a civilian she worked at Lackland AFB.

She married Bill Flesher in 1978. He died in 1986. In 1989 she married Floyd "Austin" Puckett. He preceded her in death in 1999. She was a member of the Windcrest Methodist church and the Windcrest Women's Club. She is in the archives and is charter member of The Women in the Military Memorial in Washington D.C. She and her husband Austin loved to travel and during their 10 and a half years together they visited all 7 continents, all 50 states, and over 90 countries. After his death she continued to travel. At the time of her death she had visited 124 countries. She loved to red and study history. She became a docent at the Institute of Texan Cultures working mostly in the American Indian exhibits as an interpreter for Indian cultures for 15 years. She was also a BRAG Volunteer at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio, working in an Ophthalmology Research Program, then as a tour guide, and then at the Information Desk in the main hospital and Coto North for 19 years. She made frequent donations to animal organizations and also to Children homes. She belonged to the San Antonio Zoological Society, and the San Antonio Humane Society.