Lt. Col. David Franklin Woolwine, USAF Ret.'s Obituary
Lt. Col. David F Woolwine, USAF Ret. passed away on November 25, 2017. He was born in Abingdon, VA on September 1, 1932. He was the son of the late Mr. and Mrs. James W. Woolwine. He graduated in 1951 from William King High School in Abingdon, VA. He received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from Virginia Military Institute, Lexington, VA in 1955. He was elected to Who’s Who in America Colleges and Universities upon graduation. He was voted into the VMI Sports Hall of Fame for baseball and football in 1976. He worked as a quality control engineer at Du Pont Company for 2 years prior to entering and graduating from USAF Pilot training in 1957.
Lt. Col. Woolwine spent 31 years on active duty with the USAF and flew 128 combat missions in the AC-130A gunships in Southeast Asia in 19070-71. Two notable combat assignments during his illustrious career the first was as an USAF advisor to the first AF Reserve Unit (446 TAW) that was the first to receive the C-130AC in 1967. And the second was AC-130 Stan Eval Pilot for Headquarters TAC at Langley AFB in 1971-1974. Among his many awards were 7 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 15 Air Medals, 2 Presidential Unit Citations (With Valor), 2 Meritorious Service Medals and 2 Air Force Commendation Medals. He retired from the Air Force in June of 1987 at Eglin AFB.
Lt. Col Woolwine was preceded in death by his parents Walter and Grace Woolwine, and brothers Lewis, Jim, Fred, Woody, Robert, Dewey and Sam, sister Winona, and son Joel. He is survived by his wife Barbara, sons David Jr.(Cindy) Col. Stephen(Jill), daughter Susan Malik(Patrick); 4 granddaughters (Jessica, Ashley, Caitlin and Lauren);4 grandsons (Chris, Shane, Patrick and Aaron);7 great grandchildren (Jackson, Abby, Bella, Hudson, CJ, Henry and Harper).
Visitation will be from 2:00 to 3:00 on Saturday, December 2, 2017 at EJ Fielding Funeral Home, 2260 W. 21st. Ave., Covington, LA 70433 with a service to follow. Interment will occur at Arlington National Cemetery at a later date. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters in Norfolk, VA.
What’s your fondest memory of David?
What’s a lesson you learned from David?
Share a story where David's kindness touched your heart.
Describe a day with David you’ll never forget.
How did David make you smile?
