EARL PAUL FORD was born on 1 March 1924 to Joseph and Marguerite Ford. He grew up in Flint, Michigan, and entered Michigan State after his graduation from high school. Even then Ep had decided on the military as a career, and so when World War II intervened he enlisted and was sent to Germany where he was awarded the Bronze Star. Therefore, when his West Point assignment caught up with him and he was sent back to the Academy, he was ready and eager in his own easy-going way to face and live with "the System." While keeping abreast of the academic department, he also found time to be active in track (pole-vaulting) and intramural football.

June 7, 1949 was cause for double celebration - graduation and his assignment to the Transportation Corps, and his marriage to Cleo Jean Richards, his high school sweetheart. Such was their love that she had left Michigan and joined him at West Point where she worked at the Catholic Chapel for two years prior to his graduation.

After a short tour at Fort Riley, he went on to Fort Belvoir to begin a two-year combat engineer assignment. Then came a three-year tour in Germany followed by his admission to Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he earned a master's degree in Aerospace Engineering. From then on his assignments were in Army air research at Aviation Systems Command, St. Louis; Army Aeronautical Depot Maintenance Center, Corpus Christi; and Vietnam. Next assigned to Duke University as research officer, Ep started work on his doctorate in Nuclear Physics. Eventually, he went to Bangkok, Thailand, where he and his growing family enjoyed two years of that country's culture, and where he was highly regarded by the native populace and other nationals working together in the planning branch of the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization.

Following a second tour in Vietnam, Ep retired in 1970 mainly to settle his family of three active teenagers and two grade schoolers. He and Cleo bought an old home in the quiet community of Belleville, Illinois, and have been restoring it to its original grandeur. He worked as a consultant to the Army in St. Louis, and also as a consulting engineer in St. Clair County. Admittedly he missed the Army more than he had anticipated, but there were happy and busy years of enjoying his family and children. Unhappily, they lost their oldest son, James A.G., in 1971 when he was killed at Fort Bragg while on active duty. Four children survive - Robert S.C., Joseph E.S., Lebecca Jean, and Michael J.R. They, and Cleo.

Ep was relaxed and happily watching his favorite Monday night football on television when a massive stroke caused his untimely death. He was buried at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri, where a saddened family gathered to say farewell to a beloved son, husband, and father. Full military honors were accorded him, and representatives from the St. Louis West Point Society acted as pall bearers. He had served his country well and faithfully. And as evidenced by the friends and classmates assembled at the funeral, and by the many letters and messages the family has received from around the world, he is remembered by many as a true and beloved friend.

Rest in peace, your memory will live on in all of us while you remain in the Long Gray Line of which you were most proud to be a member.

Personal Eulogy