Joseph William Calhoun

Lt. Col. Joseph William Calhoun, USAF Ret., our beloved husband, father, brother, Pappy, Great Pappy, and friend went to his forever home on Wednesday, August 5th 2009. He gifted us with great affection, love, laughter, strength, encouragement, and incredible joy! We will gather with family and friends to celebrate a life well lived on Tuesday, August 11, 2009, at 4:00 p.m. at his church home of many years, St. John’s Episcopal Church, Ocean Springs, MS. Col. Calhoun was affectionately known throughout his life as “Bud”. He was born in Eudora, Arkansas on August 23, 1926, to John Galloway Calhoun and Doris Franklin Calhoun. He attended Central High School in Memphis and the University of Arkansas. He was drafted out of the University of Arkansas Medical School in February of 1945. In the summer of 1945 he received a fleet appointment to the United States Naval Academy. He attended the Naval Academy Preparatory School in Bainbridge, Maryland and entered the Naval Academy as a plebe in the summer of 1946. He graduated from USNA on June 2, 1950 and, with twenty-five percent of his class, was commissioned in the United States Air Force. On June 4th, 1950, he married the former JoAnne Beatty Prindle in the United States Naval Academy Chapel. Serving his country in WW II, the Korean War, and Vietnam, he received a Master’s in Industrial Administration from the United States Air Force Institute of Technology. He graduated from Navigator’s School in the summer of 1957. He spent three years in Ashiya, Japan, from 1952-1955 and six years at Clark Air Base in the Philippines from 1971-1977. His last assignment was with the Hurricane Hunters at Keesler Air Force Base. He was the project officer for the hurricane meeting in January 1978 that generated the first male names for hurricanes. He retired from active duty in September, 1978. Following his retirement, he pursued an active career in general aviation as a flight instructor and an instrument instructor. He was chief pilot at the Ocean Springs airport. Bud was a volunteer at Keesler Medical Center where he pushed wheel chairs for thirteen years. He was an active member of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Ocean Springs where he served as a member of the vestry, junior warden, and a licensed Lay Reader. Survivors are his wife of 59 years, Dr. JoAnne P. Calhoun, and their four children, Chris Berkefelt (Stan) of Lake Jackson, Texas, Colleen Thomas (R.J.) of Fallon, Nevada, Kitty Heinsohn (Bubba) of Freeport, Texas, and the Rev. Cal Calhoun (Anna) of Knoxville, Tennessee, one brother, Dr. John Galloway Calhoun of Texarkana, Texas, seven grandchildren, Cienna, Heather, Judson, Kyle, Gayla, Bryce, and Molly, and two great-grandchildren, Monte and Ellorie. A memorial celebration of his life will be held at St. John’s Episcopal Church on Tuesday, August 11th, 2009, at 4:00 p.m. followed by a reception at Gulf Oaks. The family requests donations in lieu of flowers to the St. John’s Episcopal Church building fund or to the Alzheimer’s Association, 1900 Dunbarton Dr., Suite H, Jackson, MS 39216, designated for research. The Ocean Springs Chapel of Bradford O'Keefe Funeral Home is in charge of arrangements.