LOVE JOHN A

COL John A Love was a potential VHPA member who died after his tour in Vietnam on 09/19/2006 at the age of 83.5
Shalimar, FL
Date of Birth 03/31/1923
Served in the U.S. Army
This information was provided by SSN search 090108

More detail on this person: John Abram Love Our father, Col. John Abram Love, U.S. Army retired, died Sept. 19, 2006, after a long illness and a full life. He was born the first son of Abram Henry Love and Dora Meta Shaw in Mc-Clellandtown, Pa., on March 31, 1923. He was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 59 years, Virginia Rose Love; his mother and father; brother, Henry Sutton Love; and greatgrandson, Christopher Lane. He is survived by four children and their families: Penny Atkins and husband Jimmy of St. Louis, Cynthia Shannon of Shalimar, Fla., Chuck Love of Fort Walton Beach, Fla., and Abe Love and his wife Carol Ann of Fort Walton Beach; grandchildren, Jamie McCoy and husband Kurt, Allan Atkins, Patrick Shannon and wife Denise, Kristen Rivera and husband Carlos, Brandy Laws and husband Will, and John A. Love II. Also surviving are 16 great-grandchildren. Our father led a remarkable life. Raised on a farm near Smock, Pa., he became a scholar and an athlete. He made money to support himself by playing professional football on the weekends and working days in a coal mine. He was forever proud of his lifetime membership in the United Mine Workers Union, and he was just as happy that he found another vocation for life. During World War II he became a pilot and found his life's direction in the Army. He flew C-46 cargo planes in combat throughout Europe and Africa, and flew gliders into Belgium prior to the Battle Of The Bulge. After World War II he was selected as one of a few hundred Army aviators who were not transferred to the Air Force when it was formed. He was assigned to Vietnam three times and was there through two major Tet offensives. His career as a pilot was almost unique in the Army. A pilot's pilot, he was a Master Aviator with 19,000 hours in fixed wing and helicopters. He was a test pilot and project manager for the OV-1 Mohawk reconnaissance aircraft. He tested and flew Harrier jump jets and landed and took off from an aircraft carrier when he was seconded to a Navy unit in Bethpage, N.Y. As a scholar, he graduated from Washington and Jefferson College with a degree in biology and was president of his class; he acquired a degree in chemical engineering and metallurgy from the University of Vermont, and later in life a law degree from LaSalle to help understand military contracts. Dad always believed he could turn his mind to any problem with work and study, and he could. As an athlete, he was a physical specimen with the fastest reflexes you might ever see. There just wasn't any sport his natural abilities and concentration weren't suited to. Dad played college tightend and punter at Washington and Jefferson College, he taught ping pong to help pay his way through college, he was a low handicap golfer when hickory clubs were still used, he was baseball outfielder with a fiery arm, a softball infielder and coach of regional champions, a football coach who took his team to the All-Europe finals, he was a high average bowler - there just wasn't any sport he didn't take to and proceed to quickly excel. Dad retired from the Army and joined with our mother, Virginia Love, as Brokers with Howton Realty in Fort Walton Beach. They worked closely together up to her death in 2003. They made a heck of a team. Mom was the "people person" who could make friends with just about anyone in minutes, and Dad was the details and paperwork guy - nothing would get past his eagle-eyed scrutiny. We're going to miss him. Friday's for lunch, Sunday afternoon golf with the guys, telling stories around the dinner table, family reunions, road trips together to St. Louis or Branson, the big table at the Officers' Club for Father's Day, Christmas with all the grandchildren around the tree. He's gone, but he will always be in our hearts. Funeral services will be held at the funeral home on Saturday at 2 p.m. Interment will follow in Beal Memorial Cemetery.

Burial information: Beal Memorial Cemetery, Fort Walton Beach, FL

This information was last updated 03/18/2019

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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024


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