George Elliott Luck was born on November 5, 1934 in Dublin, Georgia and passed away on June 10, 2015 in a plane accident near Paine Field in Everett, Washington. He was raised by his loving parents, James and Ettie Lee Luck in Wrightsville, Georgia. He attended West Point, Georgia Tech, and the Air Force Academy, where he graduated in 1960. Early in George's illustrious Air Force career he flew the B-52 out of Kincheloe AFB, including many tense missions during the Cuban Missile Crisis. He then graduated from Air Force Test Pilot School and was stationed at Edwards and Wright-Patterson Air Force Bases. As a test pilot George flew cutting edge missions in the B-52 mothership, zoom flights in the F-104 to extremely high altitudes, many varieties and alterations of the KC-135, and C-5 galaxy tests, among other things. His test pilot duties were interrupted by the war in Southeast Asia where George flew combat missions in the A-1 and A-26. George was later responsible for training bomber and tanker pilots, and instructors, while Deputy Director of Operations of Castle Air Force base in California. He was twice assigned to duty in the Pentagon, including an assignment on the Organization of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. After retirement from the Air Force in 1985, George worked for Boeing Aircraft Company in Wichita, Kansas and Everett, Washington. He continued an active flying career as a Master Certified Flight instructor and even returned to serve his country with the United States Coast Guard Auxiliary Air division. He was named the Washington Pilot's Association Pilot of the Year and presented with the Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award by the FAA. George belonged to many aviation related organizations and recently became a member of the United Flying Octogenarians, a group of actively flying pilots over the age of 80. On December 18, 1965 George married the love of his life, Carolyn Wilson, and they enjoyed forty nine and a half years of marriage together. As testament to their dedication to one another, Carolyn conducted missionary work in Thailand during George's assignment there, in order to be close to him. George is preceded in death by his parents and his brother, Miles Luck. A memorial will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, June 22, 2015 at Purdy & Walters at Floral Hills, 409 Filbert Road, Lynnwood, WA. Funeral service and burial will be at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs at a later date.

Published in The Herald (Everett) on June 17, 2015 [Edited]