Col. (USAF-R) Gerald Byron Bunker, 80, died November 21, 2008 at Alz- Care in Temple. Services were held Nov. 25 at Im- manuel Lutheran Church in Temple. Burial followed in Salado Cemetery.
Pastor Wilbern Michalk officiated the services.
Bunker was born No- vember 11, 1928 at Uni- versity Hospital, Okla- homa City, Oklahoma to Maxwell Byron Bunker and Velma Ardella Van Loh Bunker.
He graduated from Cen- tral High School in Okla- homa City in 1946 and then attended Oklahoma A&M in Stillwater for two years on a Chemical Engi- neering scholarship.
When his father retired and moved the family back to his hometown of Salado, Bunker transferred to the University of Texas and joined the Air Force ROTC program. He gradu- ated from UT as a Distin- guished Military Gradu-
ate in 1951 with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering.
He married Betty Hen- shaw Duckworth in Belton on January 28, 1951.
He accepted a Regular Air Force commission in March 1951 and was post- ed to Keesler Air Force Base in Biloxi Mississippi.
Among the many as- signments for Col. Bun- ker during his 29 year Air Force career were these: 106th A&E Maintenance Squadron; K-9 Korea 34th Bomb Squadron and 17th Bomb Wing; Wright Pat- terson Air Force Base, Ohio; Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico as re- search and development project officer with the Air Force Special Weap- ons Center, with empha- sis on nuclear weapons; RAF Station Bushy Park in England; Command and Staff College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama; Deputy Division Chief in Technical Application Cen- ter, Alexandria, Virginia;
Industrial College of the Armed Forces, Ft. Lesley J. McNair and Washington, D.C.; Defense Intelligence Agency, Rosslyn, Virginia; Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts; National Security Agency at Ft. George G. Mead, Mary- land; Headquarters, Elec- tronic Command at Kelly Air Force Base, Texas.
He retired as the Deputy Chief of Communications Security at Kelly on June 30, 1980.
His decorations include the Defense Meritorious Service Medal, the Air Force Meritorious Service Medal, the Joint Service Commendation Medal, the Air Force Commenda- tion medal with two oak leaf clusters, the Army Commendation Medal, the National Defense Service with one bronze start, the Korean Service Medal with two bronze stars, the Unit- ed Nations Service Medal and the RAF Missile badge (for his work installing the Thor missile throughout the British isles).
Col. Bunker was a mem- ber of Immanuel Lutheran Church in Temple, the Lu- theran Layman’s League, the Retired Officers’ As- sociation, the Air Force Association, the National Rifle Association and the Veterans of Foreign Wars.
He is survived by his wife Betty and daughter Kathi and her husband John Nowosacki, of North Reading, Massachusetts, daughter Tina and her hus- band Casey Winters, of Belton, son Eric and his wife Laurie, of Monroe, Georgia.
He is also survived by his brother Frederick M. Bunker, of Tyler, six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests memorials to Lutheran World Relief, 700 Light Street, Baltimore, MD 21230 or Mayo Clinic Alzheimer’s Research, 200 First Street, S.W., Roches- ter, MN 55905.