James “Jim” R. Temple

Temple, James “Jim” R.

January 19, 1925-January 13, 2018

Age 92

James (Jim) Rodrick Temple was born January 19, 1925, in Omaha, Nebraska. He spent his childhood in Maxwell, Nebraska, where he graduated from Maxwell high school. He was active in sports and music. He played football, during which time Maxwell took state. He also played basketball and other sports.

Jim and his parents were in a car accident when he was 13, tragically killing his parents. Jim was then raised by his aunt and uncle.

Immediately after graduating from high school, Jim enlisted in the U.S. Army Air Corp as an air cadet. He attended flight school, earning his pilot wings. At age 19, he become a First Lieutenant, piloting the B-17 Flying Fortress in WW II in the 301st Bomb Group, 419th Squadron.

During WW II, he flew 10 missions in Italy, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Yugoslavia, North Africa and Iceland. After returning to base from one mission, his crew discovered a hole in the wing of the B-17 aircraft, where a shell had gone through but not exploded. During some of his missions, not all of the planes made it back safely.

When the war was over, he moved to Lincoln, and attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, where he met his bride-to-be, Betty Ann (Baker) Wustrack. Betty  had lost her first husband in WW II, and had a 3-year-old son, Bob Wustrack. Jim and Betty married in 1948, with Jim becoming a father to Bob. Jim and Betty had four more children Randy Temple of Omaha, Barry Temple (Glenda) of Kissimmee, Florida, Sharee Jacobs (Dave) of Bellevue, and Tami Wixon (Bill) of Omaha. Jim has 7 grand children and 11 great-grandchildren.

Jim received a degree in architecture, and in 1952, they moved to Bellevue, where he began  his career with Strategic Air Command at Offutt Air Force Base, retiring after 30 years.

Jim was active with the Boy Scouts and the Bellevue Optimist Club, which included being active in the youth boys basketball program. Jim also served on the Bellevue Housing Authority Board.

Jim’s hobbies included collecting toy cars and trains, fixing old toys for his grandchildren, playing cards.  He was an excellent handyman. Jim was very patriotic and was an avid sports fan, playing football, basketball in high school sports. Jim was a husker fan all of his life, and had season football tickets for many decades. While attending college at the University of Nebraska, Jim and a life-long friend decided to attend a meeting to investigate being a walk-on in the football program. When he and his friend got there, they saw football recruits twice their size, and they decided that wouldn’t quite work out for them.

Visitation will be Friday January 19th, 2018 from 10:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m. followed by a Memorial Service at 11:00 a.m. all at Bellevue Memorial Funeral Chapel, 2202 Hancock Street.

Military Honors American Legion Post 331 at the Chapel

Inurnment will take place at East Union Cemetery, Union, Nebraska.

 

1 Comment

  • Judy and Pat Donahue Posted January 17, 2018 5:49 pm

    Bob, Sharee, Randy, Barry and Tami,
    Jim sure had a wonderful, exciting life, didn’t he? You should be proud of him. One thing that I have truly admired about Jim was they way he treated Betty and took care of her when she lost her eyesight. Going to Nebraska and not planning to go visit Betty and Jim will be hard for a while. God bless you all and be thankful for memories.

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