More detail on this person: Jay was born in St. Joseph's Hospital, Houston, Texas on 18 December 1937 to his mother, Opal Doege Bisbey and father, Joseph B. Bisbey. Both of his parents have pre-deceased him. His mother insisted he attend All Saints Catholic School and later St. Thomas High School where he graduated in 1955. At St. Thomas, Jay played on the freshman baseball and football teams, but soon spent full time on the golf course, or hunting duck and geese on the Texas gulf shores. His teachers at St. Thomas groomed him for college in the field of Engineering. Jay entered Texas A&M in 1955 as "fish" in the Aggie Corps of Cadets. At Texas A&M, Jay rose thru the corps to Regimental Commander, Second Regiment, and graduated with a degree in Mechanical Engineering with the class of 1959. During his four years in College Station, Jay was always active in the Corps; as the "Red Pot" Junior Sergeant Major of the AAA Battalion, he supervised the building of the traditional bonfire, and had his date, and later wife of 57+ years, Joanne Garner, by his side at every Aggie football game. Bear Bryant was the head coach during Jay's tenure at A&M. Jay was commissioned in the Regular Army as a Second Lieutenant in August of 1959, and joined a missile battalion at Ft. Bliss, Texas directly out of A&M. After six months in El Paso, Jay returned to Houston to marry his longtime girlfriend and proceeded on to Ft. Sill, OK, to begin a 20 year career in the Armed Services. Jay commanded Artillery and Aviation units from Platoon to Brigade level; spent two years in South Vietnam as a Mohawk pilot and Staff Officer where he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, 17 Air Medals, two for valor, the Bronze Star, and two Purple Hearts. Lt. Bisbey was one of the first Army Aviators to have ejected from his combat damaged aircraft, and survive. He logged 731 combat flying hours in Vietnam in fixed and rotary wing aircraft. As a Lieutenant Colonel serving in Italy, Jay became a Master Army Aviator and later served his last seven years in the Pentagon as a Department of the Army Systems Coordinator (For the Chinook CH-47D helicopter). His first daughter, Kelly, was born in 1961 and his second daughter, Cissy, was born in 1964. Jay retired from the Army in November 1979 and joined Tracor Aerospace in Austin, Texas, where he became an assistant Program Manager. In June 1980, Jay was promoted to be the full-time German AF ALE-40 PM. This began Jay's career as an International Program Manager_ he managed the UK, Italian, Korean, Japan, Australian, and New Zealand programs for Tracor. He was also the Director of CM Programs, Executive Director of International Business Development, Executive Director of European and Middle East Programs stationed in London, England and returned in 1990 to lead the International business development activities of the division in Austin, TX. He retired from BAE (Tracor) in June of 2002. After he retired, Jay spent some of his time with the Web Office working International programs for the Virtual Private Software Network product and with Cannon Associates of Georgetown selling pre-owned helicopters. He liked to say he led his life according to the three "G's", i.e. God, Grandchildren and Golf. He and his family were members of St. Theresa Catholic Church, where Monsignor McCabe christened Joanne a Catholic in 1991. Jay was very active in the St. Vincent de Paul Society providing aid to the poor. He was a member of the CRHP organization and helped to recruit new members. His Grandchildren who lived in Austin and Tampa, FL. took precedence over everything else. Jay was always taking them to ballet, football, volleyball, kickball, basketball and many other after school activities and visiting them in Florida. His first love, however, was golf. He became a 5 handicapper and played with his Screen-Door Open buddies at the Austin Country Club where he was a member since 1979. His wife of 57+ years, "the love of his life", Joanne, passed away in April of this year. He is survived by his two daughters, and 5 grandkids and a son-in-law that he considered a son along with his dog Whitney. Heartfelt thanks to the Memory Care staff at Brookdale North for their love and compassionate care. A Rosary will be held at St. Theresa Catholic Church. A Funeral Mass will follow. The burial will take place at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas.
Burial information: Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery, San Antonio, Texas
This information was last updated 10/22/2017
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Date posted on this site: 03/10/2024
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