More detail on this person: Louis Lee Mizell
was born March 13, 1931 at Oshkosh, NE, to Leroy
and Meredith Mizell, the second of seven children.
When he was 5 the family moved to Western
Colorado. The family lived in Rifle, Snowmass,
Climax, Kokomo, New Castle, and finally on a farm
near Silt where they lived when he graduated from
high school, with a GED. He was baptized when he
was 16.
He enlisted in the Army in 1948 and was sent to
Ft. Ord, CA for basic training and then more
training followed at Ft. Story, VA to drive
amphibious trucks. He was then sent to Guam for a
year where he was a personnel clerk and a bonded
driver.
Returning to the US, he was sent to Ft. Riley, KS,
then to Ft. Carson, Co where he was a Supply Sgt.
From there, he returned to Ft. Riley to attend
Officers Candidate School where he was
commissioned a second Lieutenant in the Army
Medical Service Corps. His next duty station was
at Ft. Sam Houston, TX where he attended officer's
basic training. Following that training he was
assigned to Camp Atterbury, IN as Medical Supply
Officer in the 31st Dixie Division. After a year
he was sent to Germany in 1953 as part of the
Occupation Forces. In 1955, he returned to Ft.
Riley KS for a short time and then was sent to Ft.
Rucker, AL for training as a helicopter pilot.
Following flight training. Louis was assigned to
helicopter ambulance units at San Antonio, Korea,
Germany, Vietnam where he was awarded the
Distinguished Flying Cross, the Bronze Star, the
Air Medal for Valor and 12 Oak Leaf Clusters, and
numerous other awards. His final duty post was
back to Ft. Riley where he retired in 1969 as a
Lieutenant Colonel.
Louis married Doris Dahl, an Army Nurse, at the
old Madigan Chapel, immediately prior to his
Vietnam deployment. After retirement they, and
their family moved to University Place. He was
employed by Great Western Helicopters, which was
located at Tacoma Industrial Airport as the
Manager and Chief Pilot. The company contracted
with the National Forest Service to fight forest
fires and also did some work in positioning radio
towers and installing air conditioners on building
roofs.
After two years, he left that job and attended
the University of Puget Sound to complete his
degree in Business and Accounting under the GI
Bill. During this time, he flew part time for
Transcontinental Logging and Export Company at
Boeing Field.
In 1974, the family moved when Doris re-entered
the Army Nurse Corps, and lived In Denver, Ft.
Knox, KY, San Antonio, Ft. Bragg, NC,
Washington, DC, and Berlin, Germany where he
was an accountant for the Army. They were there
when the Berlin Wall came down and he mingled
with the crowd gathered at the Wall to watch the
crowds come through to West Berlin. While living
in Berlin, they travelled throughout Europe, the
Middle East, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Morocco,
several trips to Russia and what was then known as
the East Bloc countries.
In 1991, when Doris retired from the Army Nurse
Corps, Louis and Doris moved to their current home
in Thurston County. From there, they traveled
around the world, around South America, to
Croatia, Malta, and a three month trip to Europe,
Ireland and the British Isles.
Louis and Doris first attended Good Shepherd
Lutheran Church in 1969 and returned in 1999 and
joined the Church. During the many moves, Louis
served as an Elder and property manager at several
Lutheran Parishes. In 2005, he was appointed an
Elder at Good Shepherd where he enjoyed being
part of the Lord's family and assisting the Pastor
with communion. He regretted when his health
didn't allow him to continue.
Louis was a lifetime member of Alpha Kappa Psi
Business Fraternity, The Veterans of Foreign Wars,
The University of Washington Alumni Association,
the Military Officers Association of America, the
Dustoff Association for pilots who flew Medical
Evacuation Mission in combat, the Solo Pilots
Association for pilots who flew medical evacuation
missions in Korea with no flight crew, evacuating
patients in helicopters with litter pods on the
outside.
Louis was preceded in death by a daughter,
Suzanne Mizell Fish, and 4 siblings. He is
survived by his wife of 49 years, Doris, daughter,
Karen Mizell and children, Emery, Kendall, and
Collin Wogenstahl; a son, Louis, Jr. and Carolyn,
and daughters Rachael Coletti and Erica Anderson;
son, David and Laurel and children Cassie,
Brenton, Savannah, and Brevin; son Michael and
Keri and sons Colton and Trevor; son-in-law
Christopher Fish and children Alexander and
Madeleine. He is also survived by 4 great-
grandchildren, 2 brothers, Irvin and Keith Mizell,
and many nieces and nephews.
This information was last updated 02/06/2014
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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
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