Robert DeLong

September 3, 1924 - January 16, 2013

Robert ?Bob? Milton De Long, 88, beloved Husband and Father and cherished Popi of his grandchildren and great-grandchildren passed away Wednesday, January 16, 2013 at his home in Temple with his family at his side. Bob was born on September 3, 1924 in Colorado Springs, Colorado to Milton and Laura (Proper) De Long. He grew up in Woodland Park and Brush Colorado. Bob was a proud veteran of World War II and served in both the US Navy and the US Air Force during his career. Bob was a member of the 6th Naval Beach Battalion, Easy Red Beach, H-Hour, landing at Utah Beach on June 6, 1944. During a 1999 interview about the landing at Normandy, Bob said ?We kicked butts.? He participated in the liberation of the concentration camp at Dachau, and the Berlin Airlift. He was stationed at Wilford Hall on Lackland Air Force Base and helped to care for our wounded troops during the Korean War. He served three tours in country in Vietnam before retiring from the Air Force in 1966. He then went to work for McDonald Douglas Aircraft in St. Louis Missouri. In 1947, Bob married Barbara Cameron in Greely Colorado and they had three daughters. The family moved with him around the world each time his permanent station changed. Barbara and Bob finally settled in the river valley region of Arkansas, first living in the Boston Mountains north of Alma and then moving to Van Buren in 1995. He moved one last time in December 2011 to Temple Texas. Survivors include his beloved wife, Barbara of Temple, daughters Lou Ann Porter of Luther Oklahoma and Cheryl De Long of Van Buren Arkansas, brother Jackie Joe De Long of Greely Colorado, eight grandchildren, and ten great grandchildren. Bob was preceded in death by his middle daughter Laura Kathryn ?Kat?, his sister Betty, his brothers Bud, Leonard, Bill, Earl, Theodore, Charles and Ronald Gene.