Mr. Robert Bruce Kilmer Jr.'s Obituary
KILMER, ROBERT BRUCE, JR., was born Dec. 4, 1919, in Baltimore, MD, and died May 28, 2007, Memorial Day, at his home. Bruce and family moved to Dallas in 1925. He was a 1937 graduate of Sunset High School and a 1947 graduate of SMU, where he played baseball for the Mustangs. A veteran of WWII, Bruce was a 1st Lt. in the Army Air Corps. He was a B-17 pilot, 547th Squadron, stationed in Grafton Underwood, England. On Oct. 14, 1943, he was shot down over France on Black Thursday (Second Schweinfurt Mission). He was with the French Underground for 6 months until he was captured. He spent the next year as a prisoner of war in Stalag Luft 3, Sagan, Germany, Stalag 13-D in Nurnberg, and Stalag 7A, Moosberg, Germany. In April, 1945, his POW camp was liberated by Patton’s 3rd Army and his younger brother, Sgt. Tommy Kilmer, who he did not at first recognize, as Tommy had been in high school when Bruce went to war. In his retirement years, Bruce spent a great deal of time speaking to school groups about the war. He participated in the UNT Oral History Collection and was featured in the History Channel’s “B-17 Flying Fortress”, part of the Heavy Metal documentary series. Bruce was a retired polygraph/private investigator and administrator of Boys Baseball, Inc. Together with Flo, he spent 31 years providing thousands of Dallas county boys an opportunity to play the game they both love, baseball. He was preceded in death by his parents, Carrie Mae Secrist Kilmer and Robert Bruce Kilmer, and brother, Tommy Kilmer. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Flo Kilmer; son, Robert Bruce Kilmer, III and wife, Christy; daughter, Kathy Moak and husband, Eldridge; grandchildren, Emily Moak, Carrie & Mike Kesler, Susan & Eric Bertram, Laura & Jonathan Bender, Robert Kilmer, Ryan Kilmer; great-grandchildren, Grace Bender, Audrey Bender, and Rachael Mae Bender coming soon; brother, Cal Kilmer. Bruce was a member of Northridge Presbyterian Church as well as the 8th Air Force Historical Society, 384th Bomb Group, Order of the Purple Heart-Dallas Chapter 542, and Dallas Metroplex Prisoners of War. A memorial service will be held at Northridge Presbyterian Church, 6920 Bob-O-Link Dr., Dallas, TX 75214, at 11:00 a.m. on Friday, June 1st. Rev. Roger Quillen & Rev. Brent Barrie presiding. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Northridge Presbyterian Church.
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