Thomas Hunt Armistead, 87, passed away Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2011 in Ft. Worth, TX.
Services are planned for Monday, October 3, 2011, 11 AM at First Presbyterian Church, 425 N. Main, Water Valley, MS. Interment with military honors will follow the service in Oak Hill Cemetery in Water Valley. A memorial service will also be held in Ft. Worth, TX Friday, September 30, 2011.
Hunt was born Sept. 28, 1923, to Eldridge Armistead and Rowena Pate Armistead in Memphis, Tenn. He grew up in Water Valley, MS and attended Mississippi State College, where he was a member of the Alpha Tau Omega Fraternity.
His college experience was interrupted by World War II, during which he served for three years in the Army as a Sergeant in the European Theater, including the Battle of the Bulge, for which he received the Bronze Star and a Combat Medic Badge.
He used his G.I. Bill after the war to obtain training in aviation as a pilot, flight instructor, ground instructor and an A&E mechanic and obtained an ATR rating. Through his career he was a crop duster and Executive and Charter pilot. He came to Fort Worth in 1951 as co-pilot for the private plane of the Burnett Estate, working for that company for 12 years. He held similar positions with Champlin Petroleum, Texas Pacific Oil and the Western Company. Upon retirement, he pursued ranching interests in Jack County. Hunt was a devoted Presbyterian and 32nd degree Mason.
Hunt was preceded in death by his parents; two brothers, Eldridge Armistead, Jr. and Robert Pate Armistead; and grandparents, Robert Reynolds Pate and Rowena Mabry Pate.
Survivors include his wife, Josephine Morgan Armistead of Ft. Worth, TX; son, Henry Hunt Armistead of Austin, TX; three nieces; and three nephews.
Expressions of sympathy may be made to the First Presbyterian Church, 425 N. Main, Water Valley, Miss. 38965.