Obituary of Herbert Charles Macy

Herbert “Herb” Charles Macy, 90, died, Tuesday, September 29, 2015, at his home in Prescott, Arizona, after a long battle with COPD. A Time of Remembrances and the Internment for Herbert will be held 11 a.m., Saturday, October 10, 2015, at the Lynnville Friends Cemetery. In lieu of flowers memorials have been designated in Herb’s name. Pence ~ Reese Funeral Home in Newton, have been entrusted with the arrangements. A time of Fellowship and lunch will follow at the Lynnville Friends Church, with the family. Herb was born August 12, 1925, in Lynnville, Iowa, to Dole Sylvester Macy and Lydia Ethel Renaud, who died shortly after Herb’s birth. Dole was remarried to Hazel Norris, a professor and colleague at Penn Central College. Herb was raised by his grandparents, William and Hettie Almeda Macy along with his great aunts, Dole’s sisters, Vera, Aletha and Ruth. Vera’s daughters Macy Jane (Jontz) and Jane (Finch) were closer to siblings than first cousins. Herb grew up attending the Lynnville Iowa Friends Church and Sunday school, Lynnville Elementary, graduating from Lynnville High School on May 12, 1943. After serving in the military, he graduated from University of Iowa on December 20, 1950 with a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering. Herb obtained continuing education credits in Lean Six Sigma at George Washington University. Herb loved radios from the time he was a small boy and built one of his first radios by hand. His hobby was fixing things, including old cars and radios. As a HAM operator (W6VJA), he learned Morse code and used it all of his life. In Claremont, a tall tower and a transmitter the size of a small suitcase had Herb in contact with Australia and other faraway places while his kids listened in on many a CQ, CQ call. Herb continued to attend roll calls, and listen to his shortwave radios into his last years. S/Sgt. Herbert Charles Macy enlisted in the Air Corps on July 10, 1943, called to active duty on January 15, 1944, basic training at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri and attended Radio School at Scott Field, Illinois and Gunnery School at Fort Myers, Florida. He was put with a crew at Lincoln, Nebraska and R.T.U. Training with a crew at Clovis, New Mexico. He was deployed in May 1945 as a B-29 replacement crew and spent seven months overseas. He participated in 22 missions that included strategic strikes against Japanese mainland targets and mining of the Shimonoseki Straits; two prisoner-of-war missions and two search missions for a downed B-29. Notably and historically, Herb participated in the overflight of the USS Missouri battleship in Tokyo Bay during the signing of the Japanese surrender on September 2, 1945. He was 20 years old. Herb returned stateside November 29, 1945 and was discharged at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas on January 29, 1946. Herb was a member of 20th Air Force, 9th Bomb Group, 313th Wing and 99th Squadron based on Tinian Island in the Marianas. He maintained a lifelong connection with members of this group. Herbert Charles Macy was awarded: D.F.C., Air Medal with two bronze oak leaf clusters, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Ribbon with two battle stars, one for air offensive of Japan and one for Eastern Mandate Island. Herb married his first wife, Joan Marie Holm on August 13, 1950, in Oskaloosa, Iowa. She put him through college, and they had two children Lynne (Olson) and Brian. After Joan’s tragic passing in 1989, Herb married Mary (Lee) Bovee on July 28, 1990, in California. Herb was an Engineer at General Dynamics in Pomona, California for 30 years. He was very good at keeping his defense work secret. In later years, we learned that he worked on the development of the Redeye man-portable surface-to-air missile system which used infrared homing to track its target. Herb spent his working life in Claremont, California. Herb was well known for the twinkle in his eyes, sneaky smile and unique sense of humor. We are grateful for his long life and the time we spent with him. Herb is survived by his wife, Mary (Lee, Bovee) Macy of Prescott, daughter Lynne (Christopher) Olson of Ellsworth, Wisconsin; son Brian (Marilyn) Macy of Santa Ynez, California; grandchildren: Megan Slovyan, Erin Eakes, Braden Macy, Macy Olson and Tyler Olson; his great grandson Tyler Slovyan; nieces and nephews: Macy Jane and Warren Jontz of Newton, Iowa, Jane and Doug Finch of Lincoln, California, and Jody (Jontz) McCoy of Minnetonka, Minnesota and special friend and high school classmate John Andrew Gertsma. Herb was preceded in death by his parents; and first wife Joan Marie Macy taken by cancer on December 7, 1989.