Richard Neil Prass

Richard Neil Prass was born in Lafayette in 1923, the only child of Fredrick Nicholas Prass and Nellie Blanche [Dine] Prass. He graduated from Jefferson High School in 1941 and was attending Indiana University in 1942 when his Father died. Richard joined the Army Air Force in early 1943 and was stationed stateside in Idaho before seeing limited action in the Pacific. On Release from active duty in 1946, he married Laura Jane Gaunt with whom he had one son. He next married Donna May Hammer-Perry in Bedford, Indiana in 1951 before being called back to active duty, serving as Navigator for supply flights departing Travis Air Force Base in the San Francisco area bound for Toyko, Japan via Anchorage, Alaska during the Korean War. Afterwards, He began working on his degree once more, having two more sons before being recalled to active duty to France and Germany at the start of the Berlin Wall Crisis in 1961, serving a year overseas. He was to remain in the Air Force Reserve until 1975, retiring with the rank of Major. He completed his degree in Pharmacy from Purdue University, and was then employed at Home Hospital until 1968, and then at Hook's Drug Stores for the balance of his career. In 1978, he moved from Lafayette to Indianapolis after the death of his Mother. In 1985, illness forced his retirement and he was taken to live in Greenfield, Indiana. His final few months were spent in and out of hospitals, and he died in Indianapolis in 1994. He was survived by his two spouses and three sons. Grandfather to Matthew Todd Prass
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Inscription: CAPT US AIR FORCE WW 2 KOREA

Note: Government Stone indicates 'Captian', while he actually retired from the USAF Reserves in 1975 with the rank of 'Major'.

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Apr 28 2016, 4:11:36 UTC