Lt. Col. James “Jim” Arthur Bone, of McKinney, Texas, formerly of Arlington, Texas, passed away peacefully at home on, August 28, 2012 at the age of 71. He was born December 15, 1940, in McCamey, Texas to Erle and Margaret (McCormack) Bone. On December 15, 1959 Jim married Margaret “Peggy” Walters, in McCamey, Texas. He attended McCamey High School, graduating in 1959, where he was active in sports and starred in football. Jim graduated from college in 1963 and was active in ROTC at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos. He later received a Master’s Degree from Pepperdine University. He entered the Air Force as a Lieutenant. His first assignment was in Germany as a weapons controller with the 601st Division. In 1966 he went to Thailand, which was such an important time in his life. He controlled pilots refueling who were going into combat zones during the Vietnam War. He was in a group that was called the 621st TAC Control Squadron - Brigham Group and he considered the entire group as brothers. During 1966 - 1967, Brigham's main mission was running air to air refueling rendezvous - pairing up flights of F-105’s or F-4’s with KC-135 tankers. On the surface, doing refueling should be easy. It was on the out bound side but on the return trip most of the aircraft suffered from battle damage and were low on fuel which exacerbated the stress levels on all concerned. There were usually two missions each day but the Brigham Group never lost an aircraft in the performance of their duty. During his tour of duty and involvement in the Brigham Group, Jim was awarded two Bronze Star medals. Every two years the Brigham group met for a reunion and that was always a highlight for Jim; when Jim was unable to travel, his “brothers” came to him. Jim finished his career as a Lieutenant Colonel in 1983. He and Peggy moved to Arlington and he worked with several companies before starting one of his own. He started his business serving corporations with their training needs. He owned and later sold the Time Bank organization business and was an expert with time management. He retired in 2009 and he and Peggy moved to Las Cruces, New Mexico in 2010 where he soon became ill. They moved back to the Dallas area to be close to family and doctors. Jim’s passion was his love of fishing with his beloved dog Bradley. The family would like to extend a special thanks to Charles Jackson who helped care for Jim at home.
He is survived by his wife, Peggy Bone of McKinney, Texas; children, James Erle Bone of Lake Worth, Texas, Marlene Walker and fiancé Jim Canon of Plano, Texas; granddaughter, Brenna Walker; sisters, Erlene Thomas of Midland, Texas and Mary Milam of Odessa, Texas; brother-in-laws, Ron Walters, Mike Walters and wife Paula; and numerous nieces, nephews and cousins.
Jim is preceded in death by his parents, Erle and Margaret Bone; brother-in-laws, Jack Milam and Curtis Thomas; sister-in-law, Pat Walters; half brother and sister, Jack Righter and Marilyn Coplen.
A graveside service will be held at 11:15 a.m., on Friday, August 31, 2012, at DFW National Cemetery, in Dallas, Texas. A memorial service will be held at 4:00 p.m. on Friday afternoon, at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Chapel, in Allen, Texas, with Dr. Neill Grimes officiating. The family will receive friends during a catered visitation beginning at 6:00 p.m., on Thursday evening, at Turrentine-Jackson-Morrow Funeral Home.
In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Christian Church of McKinney, 1800 West Hunt Street, McKinney, Texas 75069 and/or the United States Veterans Memorial, c/o Roylene Davis, P.O. Box 955, McCamey, Texas 79752.