Wallace Richard Buelow

Wallace R. Buelow, 91, died Monday, March 9, 2009 at RTA Hospice and Palliative Care in Lakeside, Arizona. He was born in Shelby, Nebraska on February 15, 1918 to the late Richard T. and Minnie Caroline (Goetz) Buelow. At age 12 he moved, with his family, to Atwood, Kansas. He considered Atwood to be his hometown. Upon graduating at the head of his high school class, he studied chemical engineering at Iowa State University from 1936 to 1941. However, before he could finish his course of study, he was called to active duty in the U.S. Army. Shortly after, with WWII very much on their minds, he met and soon married Betty Jean Graham of Colorado Springs, CO. They had three children: John Peter of Carrollton, VA, Richard of Bountiful, UT, Jackie Kojimoto also of Bountiful; 3 grandchildren and a niece, Sue Stibbe of Tucson. They also had 3 step-grandchildren. Wallace served as a paratrooper during WWII. He parachuted into Southern France, and later fought in the Battle of the Bulge. After returning to the United States he was assigned to Fairbanks, Alaska and spent the winter testing parachute equipment in the extreme cold. He served three years with the army of occupation in Germany and after attending the Command and General Staff College, was assigned to The Pentagon as Chief of Army Scientific Intelligence. Upon leaving The Pentagon, he served as a logistics officer in Korea and commanded a field artillery battalion at Fort Carson, CO. He attended the Army War College and simultaneously attended The George Washington University where he earned a Masters degree in International Affairs. After attending the Army Aviation School, he was assigned to Fort Rucker, AL for three years, where he gained aviation experience and, then was assigned to Vietnam, where he was Deputy Army Aviation Officer. His last assignment was as Chief of Staff of the Army Aviation Systems Command in St. Louis. Among his awards are the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star Medal, the Air Medal and the Army Commendation Medal. Col. Buelow retired after 31 years of active duty from the U.S. Army in 1972. He and Betty moved to Albuquerque and, two years later they came to Arizona where he has since resided. He worked for H&R Block for 10 years in Tucson. He also did volunteer income tax help for 5 years, since moving to Show Low in 1984. In 1991, he was preceded in death by Betty, his wife of 49 years. He was also preceded in death by his beloved sister, Madge and her husband, Harold Stibbe. As a bachelor, he continued to travel extensively, including a trip to Antarctica and later, landing on the ice at the North Pole. In 1999 he married Janet Myers of Show Low. Their honeymoon was a trip to the upper Amazon River, and they continued to travel extensively until illness made travel difficult. This marriage enlarged his family by 5 step-children, 6 step-grandchildren and 7 step-great-grandchildren. Wallace was a devout long-time Episcopalian. Since 1984, he was a very active member of the Church of Our Saviour in Lakeside. There will be a Requiem Mass, with full military honors, at the Church of Our Saviour beginning 1:00 P.M., Saturday, March 14, 2009. In lieu of flowers at his request, Wallace suggested that contributions be made to the Episcopal Church of Our Saviour, 5147 Show Low Lake Road, Lakeside, Arizona 85929.