Gail Byron Hamilton Jr 1924-2010

HAMILTON LINDBURG RAUDEBAUGH

Posted By: Connie Swearingen (email)
Date: 2/20/2011 at 18:22:17

Sioux City Journal
7 June 2010

SIOUX CITY -- Gail Byron Hamilton Jr., 85, of Sioux City passed away Friday, June 4, 2010, at a local hospital following a brief illness.

Services will be 11 a.m. Tuesday at Meyer Brothers Morningside Chapel, 6200 Morningside Ave., with the Rev. Craig Bock officiating. Burial will be at a later date with military rites. Visitation will be 4 to 8 p.m. today, with the family present 6 to 8 p.m., at the funeral home. Condolences may be sent online to meyerbroschapels.com.

Gail was born Sept. 22, 1924, in Omaha, the son of Gail B. and Geneva M. (Lindburg) Hamilton. After graduating from East High School in January 1943, he enlisted in the U.S. Army. The Army trained him in radar technology. He was then stationed in Iwo Jima with the U.S. Army Air Corps to develop ground approach radar. He retired from the U.S. Air Force Reserve, where he attained the rank of lieutenant colonel.

After his discharge from active service, he attended and graduated from Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio, and went on to Harvard University, where he obtained his MBA. He became a licensed professional engineer and was a proud member of Tau Beta Pi, the engineering honor society. In 1949, he married Phyllis Raudebaugh. To that union three children were born, Sandy, Steven and Kimberly.

Gail began his 27-year career with General Electric, for whom he traveled worldwide. He frequently reminisced about his experiences in South Africa and Saudi Arabia. He was proud of the fact that his children were able to see many wonders of the world as well. In addition to G.E., he worked for Parsons Co. in California in computer engineering. Among his many projects was developing a computerized telephone system in the Kuwait area and regulating the flow of oil through the pipeline that crossed Saudi Arabia. He later settled in St. Louis, Mo., where he returned to further his education at Maryville University, obtaining a degree in chemistry. He then taught at St. Louis Community College, Meramec Campus and was involved in research for Washington University.

In 1999, he married his high school classmate, Ruth (Milton) Green in South Sioux City. The couple had made Sioux City their home since August 2002.

Among his many interests besides spending time with his family was his love of flying planes with Scott AFB Aero Club, being a H.A.M. radio operator, music, especially the guitar, and telling jokes. He was a 50-year Masonic Lodge member and a member of the Sioux City Consistory.

He is survived by his wife, Ruth (Green) Hamilton of Sioux City; three children, Sandy Jones and her husband, Patrick of Bourbon, Mo., Scott Hamilton and his wife, Martita of Cleveland, Ohio, and Kimberly Carmichael of Providence, R.I.; four grandchildren, Patrick Jones and his wife Gail of St. Louis, Mo., Rachel Jones Dilly and her husband, Thomas Dilly of Rolla, Mo., Michelle and J.D. Hamilton of Cleveland; four great-grandchildren, Cade and Bryce Jones and Cody and Eve Dilly; a sister, Cheryl Uknis of Sioux City; a brother, Robin Lynn Hamilton and his wife, Jeannette of Littleton, Colo.; three nephews; Ruth's family, Robert W. Green and his wife, Kathleen of Sioux City, and Sandra Green Montignani and her husband, William of Bedford, Texas; six grandchildren, Thomas Green, Kirsten Green Fiegel and her husband, Jim, Jennifer Green (Andre) and Elizabeth Green, all of Sioux City, Nicole Montignani of Waco, Texas, and William Montignani V and his wife, Kendra of Kalispell, Mont.; and seven great-grandchildren, Dan and Claire Fiegel, Brenden and Colin Andre, Amber Barron, Olivia and Elena Montignani.

He was preceded in death by his parents.

Honorary pallbearers will be the East High School graduating class of mid-year 1943.

Gail's family would like to extend a special thank-you to the nurses of fifth floor at St. Luke's Regional Medical Center and Fire Station No. 5.