More detail on this person: Howard P. "Jake"
Hulen On Saturday November 8, 2014, our dad,
Jake, passed away after battling cancer for 20
years. He was very courageous throughout. Dad
was always a fighter and a strong, determined man
but he lost the final battle. Thankfully his pain
has ended and he is finally at peace. Dad was born
on August 25, 1929, to Howard Sr. and Christine in
Hallsville, Missouri. He was preceded in death by
his parents and his first wife, Barbara, the
mother of his children. After graduating from high
school, he joined the U.S. Army and spent time at
Fort Ord and Fort Lewis before attending the
Officer Training School at Fort Riley, Kansas,
where he was awarded a commission as First
Lieutenant. Following two years of service in
Germany as a tank commander, he returned to the
states and retired from active duty with the rank
of Captain, but he remained in the reserves and
never lost touch with the military. He had a love
for flying and at the age of 38 volunteered to go
to Vietnam to put his skills to good use and serve
his country. He flew over 385 missions during his
tour of Vietnam, was awarded the Distinguished
Flying Cross, Bronze Star, 22 citations, Army
Commendation Medal and many more. He retired
as a Chief Warrant Officer 4 from the National
Guard at Camp Murray, WA, then went on to
continue working with the military in a civilian
capacity as the Chief Maintenance Officer in
charge of the Army National Guard's helicopters
and fixed wing aircraft at Ft. Lewis. In addition,
he worked for a short time as an Air Traffic
Controller then spent many years with Douglas Oil
Company, Titus Will and Mallon Ford and was an
excellent salesman and Marketing Director. Dad
lived many years in the Pacific Northwest,
including on the water in Gig Harbor for 10+ years
and at Lake Cushman for 15 years. He loved to go
fishing and take his boat up to the San Juan
Islands for vacation. He had a wonderful sense of
humor and was always the life of the party. He
loved to tease or tell a joke and had so many
stories to tell. He retired finally to Yuma, AZ to
be in the sun and warmth and that's where he spent
his final days. Surviving dad are his wife of 40+
years, Judy in Yuma, his 5 children; Michael
(Janet) in Florida, Kathi, Mark (Kelly), Cindy,
and Karen, all in Tacoma, his two step children,
Greg, and Loi (Rohan), plus 11 grandkids and 11
great grandkids. His younger brother, James (Bud)
and his wife Hilde live in Florida. His niece
Rachel (Carmine) lives in Florida and nephew
Michael in Boston. He had a huge extended family
and so many friends that will surely miss him. At
dad's request there will be no service. If you
would like to honor him you may donate to one of
the many charities that help our veterans, such as
the Wounded Warrior Program.
Published in News Tribune (Tacoma) on Nov. 23,
2014
This information was last updated 05/18/2016
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