Edgar J. Pearson (Tulia)

Tulia, Texas-Edgar James Pearson, 89 of Tulia, died November 24, 2012. Funeral services will be held 2:00 pm Tuesday, November 27, 2012 in the Tulia Christian Fellowship Church with the Rev. Harold Drake and Rev. Rusty Gray officiating. Burial will follow in Rose Hill Cemetery. Arrangements are under the care of Kornerstone Funeral Directors of Tulia. Edgar was born October 15, 1923, in Ada OK to Frank C. and Seleta E. (Tellie) Ward Pearson, one of five children. When Edgar was nine years old he moved with his family to Tulia, TX. He thrived on Adventure, Adventures aren’t made, they’re born. And so it was with Edgar Pearson. Deeds of daring are a little difficult to carry out while one is growing up in a small West Texas town such as Tulia. So in May 1941 at age 17 Edgar lied about his age to get into the Army. He hoped to join the horse cavalry at Fort Bliss, where many of his friends from home had gone. But Edgar scored high on an aptitude test for mechanical ability, so the Army invited him to join the Air Force as an aircraft mechanic. That might have pleased some young soldiers reluctant to enter combat, but not Edgar. He wanted to go where the fighting was. He changed outfits twice so he could get over seas to where the fighting was. He was stationed in California for a brief time. From there he went by way of Bom Bay, New Deli, Calcutta and Burma, India to Karachi where he was billeted in an old Zeppelin hangar that the Germans had built for the Hindenburg. One day they came and said they wanted seven men to go to China. “That’s for me,” he said. Edgar was on his way to adventure, but first he had to go over “The Hump,” which is what pilots called the Himalayas. In those days the Air Force flew over the highest mountains in the world with C-47’s. “The plane could hardly get over the mountains. You had to fly through the valleys and gullies. There was no heat or oxygen for passengers.” In China, the small town boy found the excitement for which he had yearned. “The battle cry of the Flying Tigers was `certified check’.” Many of the soldiers of fortune that made up the famous squad volunteered to stay on when their contracts were up. Edgar spent 34 months in China. During the Korean War he was training airplane mechanics at Luck Field in Phoenix Arizona. He went back overseas where he was stationed in France from 1954 until 1957. He retired from the Air Force in 1962 at Reese Air Force Base, Lubbock, Texas. After retiring he worked at a couple of different jobs before he settled on what he wanted to do. Edgar ranched cattle over 40 years on The Elkins Ranch east of Canyon for himself, Stanly Crow and others. He lived by himself and enjoyed his own company. If he got lonely he just went somewhere. Edgar’s favorite pastime: Saltwater Fishing. His pet peeve: Politicians that don’t produce anything but pay raises for themselves. Most Memorable Experience: Time spent in the Air Force in India and China. Philosophy of living: Try to treat everybody like I like to be treated. He was preceded in death by his father, Frank C. Pearson.; his mother, Tellie Ward Pearson; an only son Eddie Glen in 1952 and four sisters, Macy Pearson, Jackie Tucker, Donald Rice and Frankie Lawson.Survivors include three nieces: Swanee Gibson and husband Gared of Tulia, Denna Hockaday and husband Joe of Tulia and Sonjia Dumas of Amarillo. Three nephews: Cledon and Barbara Billington of Amarillo, Shannon Dale Tucker of Amarillo and Scottie and Fran Billington of Canyon. The family suggests memorials be to Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, P.O. Box 1890, Amarillo, Texas 79174-0001.