AUTRY, WILBURN
A viewing will be held for Wilburn “Tex” Autry, 83, of Cedar Valley for family and friends from 1 to 4 p.m. on Friday, July 18, at Redwood Memorial Chapel, 1020 Fifield St. in Brookings. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. on Sunday, July 20, at the Langlois Community Church with Pastor Rick House officiating. Interment will follow at the Denmark Cemetery in Langlois. A reception gathering of family and friends will follow at the Langlois Lions Club on Floras Lake Road, just south of Langlois.
Tex was born Aug. 5, 1924, in Simmons, Texas. He died July 14, 2008, at his home in Cedar Valley near Gold Beach.
In 1942 he joined the U.S. Marine Corps and before he was shipped overseas, he was stationed at Mare Island, Calif. It was there at a USO dance that he met his future wife, Doris Boice.
His tour of duty was with the Marines in the South Pacific, where he fought in the jungles of the Solomon Islands. In 1944, he was wounded in Guam and still carried shrapnel in his back. After his discharge from the Marine Corps in 1944, he went to Benton City, Wash., where his parents had moved. It was there on May 5, 1945, that he married Dora Boice from Langlois.
They moved to Langlois, where Tex worked at Hansen’s Langlois Cheese Factory and then to Benton City, where he worked in the wheat fields in Horse Heaven Hills near Prosser, Wash. They then moved to Eugene and he worked for Meadowland Dairy. By then, Dora had been transferred to the Portland office of Farmers Insurance and Tex then worked at Alpenrose Dairy. He worked there as plant manager until his retirement in 1954.
Tex was an avid fisherman and a golfer. The couple moved back to Curry County, not far from Rogue River and Cedar Bend Golf Course. They bought a home in Cedar Valley and have shared their retirement years between summers in Gold Beach and winters in Borrego Springs, Calif., where they joined the DeAnza Country Club.
Tex enjoyed his friends and golfing. He was proud of his gardens and culinary skills and enjoyed serving gourmet meals to friends and family.
Tex believed “Once a Marine, always a Marine” and he instilled patriotism in his sons and grandsons. His son, A. D., served in the Marines; son, Greg, in the U.S. Air Force; grandson, Mark Autry, a graduate of Annapolis, served in the U.S. Navy; and grandson, Clint Autry, also served in the Marines.
Tex is survived by his wife of 63 years, Dora; three sons, A. D. and wife, Bonnie of Portland; Greg of Vancouver, Wash., and Ron and Teresa of Bend; eight grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren, Mark and Adele Autry and sons, Matthew and Seth of Olympia, Wash., Melody and husband, Jeff O’Dell and children, Jeffery and Gabby of Vancouver, Chris Autry of London, England, Jennifer Autry of Vancouver, Scott and Jamie Autry and daughter, Kendall of Portland, Tyler and Amber and children, Jackson, Connor and Brooklyn of Gresham, Clint Autry of Los Angeles, Calif., Anne Marie and Chart Tiantawach of West Lynn and their two children, Melia and Kai; his twin sister, Willie Korslund of Tri-Cities, Wash.; sister, Inez Mowery and her husband, Tiny of Kennewick, Wash.; and a special nephew, ‘Butch’ Crawford from Three Rivers, who recently cam to see his Uncle Tex and helped the family.
Tex was preceded in death by his parents, B. K. and Bessie Autry; a brother, Allen; and sisters, Kate, Pearl, Jeffrine, Rudell and Corrine.
The family suggests memorial contributions to the U.S. Marine Raider Association, c/o Jack Dornan, 704 Cooper Ct., Arlington, TX 76011-5550.