Gilbert L. "Gil" Camburn, USAF Retired

Gilbert Lamar "Gil" Camburn died January 9 at his home in Ocean Springs, ending a thirty-year battle with heart disease. Gil was born January 25, 1943, in Huffman, AR, the youngest child of Theo and Amanda Hawkins Camburn. He grew up on his parents' farm near Ripley, MS, and graduated from Falkner High School as valedictorian in 1960 and from North Mississippi Junior College with an associate's degree in pre-engineering in 1962. He subsequently joined the Air Force and was selected for the Airman Education and Commissioning Program. Under that program, he attended The University of Missouri, graduating in 1965 with degree in mechanical engineering. He was later selected for the Air Force Institute of Technology, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, where he graduated with distinction with a master's degree in aeronautical engineering. He was also enrolled in short post graduate seminars in laser optics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Following officer training school and commissioning in May, 1965, Gil married Lila Mathis on May 22. Their first assignment together was Gil's navigator training school in Waco, Texas, followed by assignment to Pope AFB, NC. There, Gil met the second love of his life, the oddly shaped C-130 Hercules, "Herk," the powerful Air Force workhorse, which Gil called "my magnificent machine" and "a superb example of aeronautical engineering." Herk took Gil to more than sixty countries, to all the continents, to permanent assignments in North Carolina, Thailand, Arkansas, Ohio, Korea (where he was command post chief at Kunsan), and, finally, to his last assignment at Keesler AFB. Additionally, multiple temporary assignments took Gil and Herk throughout the world. He flew 143 combat sorties in Vietnam and, later, an additional 100 combat missions as a command navigator in the AC 130 gunship (Spectre), patrolling the Ho Chi Minh trail in Laos. Among other decorations in his Air Force career, Gil was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for a mission in the gunship. In a four-year break from flying duty, Gil worked as an engineer in the Flight Dynamics Lab, Wright-Patterson AFB, where his primary duty was assessing the potential impact of lasers, projectiles and high speed fragments on the structure and fuel systems of aircraft and developing methods to enhance non-nuclear survivability of aircraft. In his second twenty-year career, Gil was a systems engineer at Ingalls Shipbuilding in Pascagoula, working primarily on Aegis class destroyers. Gil was a highly intelligent, witty, caring, loyal, and hardworking man who believed in giving his best and living honorably. He valued his church, his family, his country, the Air Force, and engineering. He loved his family faithfully and fiercely. Apart from being with his family and traveling, Gil was happiest after retirement working with his friend Elvin Kellum in the Volunteer Services Program at Keesler AFB Medical Center, providing information and wheelchair escort to patients. In addition to his parents, Gil was preceded in death by an infant brother, Doyce; his sister, Juanette Henderson; his brother-in-law, LaVon Mathis; his father and mother-in-law, Leon and Cynthia Renfrow Mathis. Gil is survived by Lila, his beloved wife of more than fifty years. He is also survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Beth and Bill Schoenlein, of Big Rapids, MI; his daughter, Cynthia of Ocean Springs; his grandsons, Aidan and Daegan Reynolds of Big Rapids; his bonus granddaughter, Kelsey Schoenlein and bonus grandson, Max Schoenlein, both of Ludington, MI; his brother, Tendell (Mildred) Camburn of Olive Branch, MS; his brothers-in law, Harold Henderson, of Nesbit, MS and Shelby (Lynn) Mathis of Falkner, MS and by a host of nephews, nieces, and cousins. Gil is also survived by treasured friends, Elvin and Inell Kellum of Biloxi and Boyd and Nell Pethtel of Ocean Springs. Services will be at noon Tuesday, January 12, at the downtown campus of St Paul UMC in Ocean Springs with visitation one hour prior. Current and former pastors will officiate. Burial will be at the National Cemetery in Biloxi. Pall bearers are Bill Schoenlein, Aidan Reynolds, Daegan Reynolds, Shelby Mathis, Mark Mathis, and Elvin Kellum. Honorary pallbearer is Boyd Pethel. Arrangements are by Bradford-O'Keefe Funeral Home, Ocean Springs. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to St. Paul Downtown Music Ministry, P. O. Box 909, Ocean Springs, MS 39564 or to The American Heart Association, 2159 E. Pass Road, Gulfport, MS 39507.