Photos of my father

As I mentioned some months ago, my father passed away on July 20. This Thanksgiving I had an opportunity to scan some photographs of my father as a young man, and I wanted to share them with you.

Here is Neal's, as my mother would put it, "chubby high school senior picture".

Shortly after, World War II intervened. Here is Dad as an aviation cadet, already somewhat thinner.

And here he is as an airman in the Air Transport Command of the Army Air Corps. (There was no separate Air Force during WWII.) He was a navigator, flying new planes, usually B-17s or B-29s, to theaters of war, such as England, India, or the Pacific. Particularly for England, they flew shot-up aircraft back to the US for Boeing to refurbish. That is, they flew back planes so shot-up that they couldn't be sufficiently repaired on-site. He had stories to tell.

After the war, my parents found their way to Tennessee, and my father became a radio personality on WBIR in Knoxville.

He rose through the ranks and eventually became the general manager of WBIR-AM/FM/TV in Knoxville. This photo is likely from a point in the middle of his career.

What can I say? No wonder my mother married him when she was only 19. "It was wartime," she reminds me, "and things were different." Still and all, he was quite a guy.

Neal Warren Branch 1/5/1921 - 7/20/2009

My father, Neal Branch, passed away a month ago, aged 88½.

I have posted more photos my mother has of his younger days (WWII aviator, radio personality) here.

A cut & paste of his obituary from the Knoxville News-Sentinel follows:

BRANCH, NEAL WARREN -born in Omaha, Nebraska January 5, 1921 to parents Karl and Olava Larsen Branch. Mr. Branch served in the U. S. Army Air Corps during WWII. Most of his professional career was spent in broadcasting, joining WBIR in 1948 and becoming a morning radio personality. He retired in 1981 as general manager of WBIR TV and Radio and vice-president of Multimedia Broadcasting. Being active in his community, he was a board member of the downtown Sertoma Club, the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, Multimedia Broadcasting, and board chairman of Channel 2, president of the Greater Knoxville Advertising Club, and recipient of the Bob McCabe Ad Man of the Year. He is survived by his wife Jean Branch; and sons Benson and Mark. At his request, no services are planned. Arrangements by Cremation Options, Inc. (865) 6WE-CARE (693-2273) www.cremationoptionsinc.com.