Obituary of Lloyd Kenneth Wells

Memorial Service Saturday, Sep 09, 2017 2:00 PM Lloyd Kenneth Wells January 04, 1926 - August 22, 2017 Lloyd Kenneth Wells, Jr. was born on January 4, 1926 in Ponca City, Oklahoma. He suffered a long and courageous battle with leukemia and passed on to be with our Lord and Savior on Tuesday, August 22, 2017 at the age of 91 years old. He is survived by his wife of 68 years, Mary Pat Wells, his son and daughter-n-law Bob and Leslie Wells; his daughter Marilyn Neumann; his granddaughter & her husband Kristen and Matthew Curry; his grandson Robert Neumann and his 2 great grandson’s Brandon & Alexander Curry, who brought him so much joy and happiness, along with numerous nieces and nephews. He is preceded in death by his parents, Lloyd Sr. & Wilma Wells, his brother John Wells, his sister Linda Wickes and his nephew Jeff Wells. Lloyd was a proud World War II veteran. He joined the Army Air Corp. in 1943 in Chicago Illinois. He did his basic training at Sheppard Field in Wichita Falls, TX. Additional training was done in Arizona and Florida before flying over to Germany to start combat missions. He was a tail gunner in a B-17 (the Magnificent Obsession). He was a member of the 8th Air Force – 490th Bomb Group / 850th Bomb Squadron. His plane was shot down on their 2nd combat mission at 25,000 ft and crash landed near Frankfort in Herborn, Germany on March 9, 1945. He managed to survive the crash, even though some of his crew members were not that lucky. He was captured by the Germans and taken to a German POW Hospital where he got minimal care and no medication. It was towards the end of the war and General Patton’s Army came to town and evacuated the American prisoners. Lloyd was then taken to England where he recovered for 10 months in a hospital there and then on to Dibble General Hospital in Menlo Park, CA to have additional plastic surgeries. He received a Purple Heart for his courageousness in the war in 1946. Lloyd had the honor to return to Herborn, Germany in March of 2005 with his wife, Mary Pat and his two grandchildren Kristen and Robert to tour the town. The Germans were very receptive of his visit and remembered his particular B-17 crashing in their town. The Germans had kept pieces and parts of his plane as souvenirs while other pieces were put in a museum there. The Germans actually gave up some of these souvenirs and gave them to Lloyd to bring back home. Lloyd attended the University of Southern California where he marched with the piccolo in the USC Trojan Band and also attended Fresno State University where he received his bachelor’s degree in music education in 1948. He was a band director at Fremont Jr. High School in Delano California until 1956. In the summer of 1956, the family moved to Houston and built a house in the Spring Branch Memorial area. He then became a professional photographer photographing many weddings and other events in the Houston area. He was the head photographer to the former Shamrock Hotel. In 1963, he moved his family to La Porte where he built his second home and started making a difference in the lives of La Porte ISD students. He became a sixth grade math, science and health teacher at (then) Baker Elementary School, the first year it opened. In 1966, he took off one year of teaching and attended Florida State University where he received his master’s degree in mathematics and marched the sousaphone in the FSU Seminole Band. In 1967, he returned to his teaching position at Baker Elementary. In 1982, he transferred to Jennie Reid Elementary School and taught fifth grade math and science before retiring from La Porte ISD in 1983. Lloyd was very active in the La Porte community. He was very active in the local VFW and was the Past Post Commander of the local VFW 8251. They were instrumental in putting American flags on the local cemeteries every Memorial Day. The local VFW also gives out 2 large scholarships to two deserving La Porte High School seniors every year which he was a major part of. He attended, with his daughter Marilyn, the Honor Flight Houston in 2015 where they fly the WWII veterans to Washington DC to be honored in the nation’s capital. Lloyd was also a member and very active in the La Porte Lions Club, President of the La Porte Heritage Society and in 1983, he organized and led the La Porte Community Band which played at events all around the La Porte area. The group later downsized to the La Porte Dixieland Jazz Band and continued to play for events in the area such as the San Jacinto Battlefield, The Battleship Texas, Sylvan Beach Pavilion, Christmas on Main Street in La Porte and the Houston Yacht Club until 2011. He was active in the 1960’s with the La Porte Boy Scout Troop 514 and the La Porte Boys Little League Baseball. From the 1960’s to the 1990’s, he was one of the musicians in the La Porte High School Musicals where he played the banjo and string bass. He was also very active in sailing, boating and fishing in this area particularly with his son Bob. He was a member of the Clear Lake Sailing Club, GBCA (Galveston Bay Cruising Association) and a 35 year member of the Houston Yacht Club. At the yacht club, he was very active in their Race Committee and a founding member of the Mosquito Fleet. Lloyd was very much loved by his entire family, friends and the La Porte community. He spent the last 2 years of his life in and out of St. John’s Methodist Hospital and Baywind Village Skilled Nursing Facility in League City where he got excellent care at both facilities. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to the La Porte Education Foundation P.O. Box 1272, La Porte, TX 77572. Services will be held at St. John’s Episcopal Church 815 S. Broadway @ “G” Street in La Porte, TX 77571 on Saturday, September 9, 2017 at 2:00 p.m. A reception will follow in the Parish Hall there on the church grounds.