Col. Gordon Timmons, whose long life included turns as a private in the Texas National Guard Horse Cavalry, commander of a night fighter squadron during World War II, professor of economics, political and labor activist and not least, rancher and farmer in both Texas and Washington state, died on Sept. 20. He was 95.

Gordon David Timmons was born in Elbert, Texas, May 21, 1919, the second child of Walter James and Ella Mae (McCarson) Timmons. He grew up working the land his father and uncles settled between Throckmorton and Olney, Texas.

He was fascinated with flight and marveled over Charles Lindbergh's solo Atlantic trip that landed in France on his eighth birthday. As a youngster he took his first flight at a local fair and never lost the passion for airplanes.

While attending the University of Texas in 1939, he joined the horse cavalry and was later accepted as a flying cadet in the Army Air Corp, which became the United States Air Force. He would spend more than 20 years in the service as a pilot and commander during World War II and the Korean War.

Before the U.S. entered WWII, he was a staff pilot during the Louisiana Maneuvers and was on hand to help a rising military leader celebrate his first star, dining with Colonel Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1941. After the war began, Timmons helped researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to develop ground radar capabilities by flying missions in a B-17.


At 23, Timmons took command of the 415th Night Fighter Squadron, the first group of night fighters the U.S. sent into combat. He and his crew flew the Bristol Beaufighter, a British radar-equipped fighter over North Africa, Sicily and Italy. He recalled flying over the beachhead at Anzio, Italy and being fired upon by both sides.

Timmons was in the Philippines, preparing for the invasion of Japan when the war in the Pacific ended. He was then transferred to Fukuoka, a city located between Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

It was in Japan that he met Jean Kulhanek, a young Minnesotan with an adventurous spirit, who had joined the civil service to help the war effort and was stationed at Fukuoka. The two married on the base in 1947 and began a whole new adventure together: Nine children, born in 6 different states, in 13 years.


Timmons was called back overseas in 1953 and served a year as Commander of the 17th Bomb Group during the Korean War, where he piloted B-26s on night missions and established strict rules of engagement for the dangerous mountainous terrain. To the end of his life he remembered the name of the last pilot lost before the base commander implemented his rules. The unit had no more aircraft fatalities during his command.

He remained on active duty until 1961 when he retired and began work on a doctorate in economics at the University of Montana in Missoula, Montana. Before completing his Ph.D., Timmons put in for 160 acres through the Columbia Basin Project which opened land for irrigation farming in eastern Washington state. To secure the land, the family of 11 lived in tents on the property for four months before construction of their home began.

Timmons was also hired as a professor at Columbia Basin College in Pasco, Wash.

With his wife and children, Timmons raised mostly alfalfa, but also a variety of other crops, cattle and quarter horses. He taught history and economics for 20 years and led the teachers' union in battles for better wages and benefits. He was known on campus for his three piece suits worn with cowboy boots and hat; and his love of fast cars. He was active in the Democratic Party and ran for state representative in the 16th District in 1976.

Timmons retired from CBC in 1986 and returned to his childhood home in Texas. He remained active in local government, serving on the hospital board in Throckmorton, writing opinion articles for the local newspaper and supporting the few Democratic candidates in his area. He continued to raise horses, farm the land and enjoy the company of his children, who, like himself had found adventures across the globe, but would return to Elbert for the good conversation.

He is survived by his wife of 67 years, Jean; his children, Kathy, Linda Hermann (Steve), Jonathan Scott (Catarina), Jim (Alison), Tamara Timmons-Sandquist (Keven), Dallas, Timm (Lori), Kelly (Melissa ), and Susanna (Mike); grandchildren, Marcus, Dan and Karly Timmons, Sam and Ted Hermann, Ella and Tom Sandquist and Ren and Dylan Price; six great grandchildren; his brother Walter and sister Mary Duncan.

He was preceded in death by his parents; sisters, Audrey and Ima Faye Gardner; and a brother, Mac.

A memorial service will be held in the Elbert Baptist Church in Elbert, Texas, Friday, September 26, 2014 at 2 pm, followed by interment at the Elbert Cemetery. In lieu of flowers and to honor Colonel Timmons' lifelong belief in the benefits of education, the family requests contributions to The Throckmorton Scholarship Foundation at 210 College Street Throckmorton, Texas 76483.