Walter Clyde Straughan, Jr., Lt. Col. (Retired) who most recently resided in Pasadena, Maryland, passed silently away in his sleep on August 18, 2023.  Walter was 90 years of age.  Born on 13 April 1933 in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, his family moved to Wilmington when he was a young boy where he grew up playing on the shores along Masonville Channel during WWII.  He talked of all the mischief he, and his friends, got into along those shores watching the constant parade of shipping traffic moving up and down the Intra Coastal Waterway, and of the threat of German submarines.  His family moved back to Rocky Mount when he was a teen where he attended Rocky Mount High School meeting Barbara Jean Coley who would later become his wife.  He attended East Carolina College as a member of their ROTC program majoring in music (one his lifelong passions).

Walter accepted his commission in the USAF and went to San Angelo, Texas, to learn how to fly multi-engine aircraft (rather than fighter jets).  Walter was assigned to squadrons located in far flung places around the world from Saudi Arabia to Guam and across the entire USA.  There was not much of this world Walter did not see first-hand.  He was also involved in history!  He was part of the search and rescue teams that recovered astronauts on splashdown, he flew in and out of Peru and Ecuador in military operations supporting these countries.  He flew countless missions into and out of Viet Nam.  He flew weapons and supplies into Viet Nam and bodies out.  He was later honored as one of the USAF's best pilots and assigned to the 89th Military Airlift Command – the squadron that flies the President and all US government dignitaries wherever their official business takes them.

Walter was (and is) a child of God.  Walter loved our Lord Jesus Christ and looked forward to an eternity with all the angles and saints.

Walter was known as Clyde, or Clyde Jr., to most of his family.  He loved his family above all here on earth.   Later in life, Walter became a remarkable caregiver for his wife of 56 years, Barbara Jean (Coley), as she struggled with multiple ailments and later to his second wife Barbara Lee (Eads/Mathews) as she struggled with chronic heart issues.  He loved flying, music, reading, photography, and cruising (on ships).

He and Barbara Jean suffered the death of two of their children too early in life – David Turner (aged 2 when he passed on) and Susan Claire (aged 28 when she passed on).  Surviving him is his son Allan Vance (67) and his wife of 43 years, Eileen Koolhof, their two sons Matthew David Turner Straughan(his wife, Katherine Nimmich) their three children (Turner, Lucienne, and Waverly) and Nathan Christopher Straughan.  He is also survived by his two stepsons Robert Edward Mathews, his wife of 47 years Teresa Gail Mathews, their two boys (Josh and Jeff), Randal Scott Mathews, his wife of 38 years Carol Jean Mathews, and their two girls (Jessica and Victoria – Both now married.).

There will be a visitation from 9:00 to 10:30 am before the service for mourners to pay their personal respects, but there will be no viewing.  The visitation and Celebration of Life service will be held at Jenkins Memorial Church located at 133 Riviera Drive, Pasadena, Maryland 21122 on Saturday, September 16th at 10:30 am.

Interment will follow a week later at Union Cemetery in Burtonsville where he will rest alongside Barbara Jean and be buried with military honors.

While flowers are most welcome, planting a tree in his honor or donating to his church (Jenkins Memorial) would be appreciated.