Retired Col. Lloyd R. Humphreys - 1911-1986

HUMPHREYS, ZIMMERMAN, GABER, BROWN, SCHELLHAMMER, BAKKE, ROSE, WILD, CAMPBELL, HAYES, MOUW

Posted By: Connie Ellis (email)
Date: 4/3/2011 at 18:01:01

SOURCE: Waukon, Iowa WAUKON DEMOCRAT, July 3, 1986
Contributor: Connie Ellis (Not related)

Retired Col. Lloyd R. Humphreys, former commander of Dover Air Force Base, died Saturday, June 21, 1986 of cancer in Kent General Hospital. Col. Humphreys was 74 years of age. He was born December 13, 1911 at Waterman, Wheeler County, Oregon. *The names of his parents were not listed* Funeral services were held Tuesday, June 24 at Torbert Funeral Chapel, Dover, Delaware. Burial was Wednesday, June 25 in Arlington National Cemetery, Arlington, Virginia with full military honors.

He started his career in the armed forces as an aviation cadet in the Navy after attending Oregon State College in 1935. He won his wings three years later. He left the service for employment with the Royal Netherlands East Indies government as a civilian flight instructor in Java. With the Japanese invasion of the islands in 1942, he returned to the United States and accepted a commission in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He flew Army 560 combat hours in the southwest pacific during World War II. He would go on to serve during the Korean War and the Vietnam War.

He was commander of Dover Air Force Base from 1962 until his retirement from active duty in 1967. He had over 31 years of active military service. Among his decorations and awards were the Legion of Merit, the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with oak leaf clusters and two Presidential Citations. He was also awarded the Conspicuous Service Cross, Delaware's highest award given by the late Governor Charles L. Terry, Jr.

After his retirement from the Air Force, he worked as assistant to the president of Delaware Technical and Community College from 1967 to 1973. He was a member of Dover Elks Lodge 1903, the Retired Officers association of Dover Air force Base and the National Air Force Association.

Col. Humphreys is survived by his wife, Esther, the former Esther Zimmerman of Waukon, Iowa in Allamakee County, Iowa; a son, Charles Alan Humphreys of Jacksonville, Florida and a daughter, Sharon Gaber of Tampa, Florida; 2 grandchildren; 3 brothers, Trevor Humphreys of Salem, Oregon, William Humphreys of Reedsport, Oregon, and Robert Humphreys of Mitchell, Oregon and a sister, Gladys Brown of Driggs, Idaho.

Mrs. Humphreys was the daughter of William and Christina (Schellhammer) Zimmerman. She is the sister of Sylvia (Zimmerman) Bakke, Herbert Zimmerman, and Walter "Wally" Zimmerman, half sister, Shirley Rose, and half brother, Milton Wild and step-sisters, Orabelle "Betty" Wild, Arlene Campbell, Sylvia Hayes, and Eleanor Mouw.