Mack Eugene Boone |
| Posted 2023-05-29 by mhenderson |
| Published by Mohave Daily News Online on May 28, 2023 - Bullhead City, Arizona - Mack Eugene Boone, age 93, Retired USAF Colonel, and resident of Fort Mohave, Arizona, passed away from cancer Friday, April 21, 2023 at Legacy Rehab Center under Beacon of Hope Hospice Care. He was born October 11, 1929 to Gordon and Juanita Boone of Breckenridge, Texas. When Mack was eighteen months old, the family moved to Quemado, New Mexico, where Gordon built a log cabin on nine sections of homesteaded land. Mack loved the outdoors, his dog Fido, and his pony, Pinto, which he rode to Quemado's one-room schoolhouse every day. Mack was a graduate of Quemado High School and New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, New Mexico, where he developed his interest in boxing. He was majoring in Business at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico when the Korean Conflict intervened. Always the patriot, Mack enlisted as a Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. In 1951, he was sent to Korea as a B26 aircraft navigator with the 13th Bomb Squadron, known as the "Grim Reapers", and would fly more than fifty bombing missions during his time there before returning home to New Mexico and graduating from NMSU. His image is among fifteen-hundred others on the Korean War Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C. Mack served as an executive with Boy Scouts of America in Belen, New Mexico before moving to El Paso, Texas. He worked for El Paso Natural Gas Company as a Land Man before settling on a career in the insurance industry. At the time of his retirement he was executive vice president of AIM Insurance Company, serving regional credit unions. In 1960, Mack began martial arts training under Professor Tarow Ty Hayashi, Director of the International Zen Martial Arts Federation of North America, and would continue through the ranks of this discipline he grew to love, earning successive belts in Judo, Karate, Aikido, and Bujutsu, as both student and instructor. In 1968, Mack was asked to form a karate class at El Paso's newly-constructed East Valley YMCA; Mack later added judo to the Y's successful martial arts program. He never tired of the martial arts way, or the many eternal friendships it would inspire. Mack and his wife Peggy moved to Fort Mohave, Arizona in 2004, calling it their "forever home". Among other activities, they joined the Bullhead City Police Department Auxiliary where Mack would later serve two years as Auxiliary Commander. Learning of another martial arts opportunity, Mack tried Tai Chi classes at Mohave Community College, and found his new passion. He would teach this for several years at Bullhead Health Club before eventually bidding his faithful students farewell and hanging up his gi. Mack loved to bowl with his friends Bob and Mike every Thursday. On Fridays they would join their OOPS (Old Obsolete Patriots Society) buddies Chuck, Jack, Art, Doug and Al for breakfast. They knew every menu in town by heart. Preceding Mack in death were his former wives, Mary Nell, and Jackie; and his parents. Mack is survived by his beloved wife and best pal of forty-three years, Peggy; daughter, Juanita (Larry) Geistweidt; son, Michael (Cindy) Boone; step-daughters, Danielle (Carlos Cardenas) Polen and Lisa (Jim) Davidson; grandsons, Colin (Shari) Boone and Caleb Meyers; granddaughter, Alicia (Greg) Groves; great-granddaughters, Jordan Boone, Jenna Groves and Kaci Groves; great-grandson, Blake Boone; and Roger the Cat. We are humbled by the outpouring of love from friends who called or sent sympathy cards of support. Words of thanks are hardly enough. Our deep appreciation to Lisa, Tara, Denise, Crystal and Alisa, exceptional nurses and caregivers from Beacon of Hope Hospice. It helped to laugh and cry together. And Nadine, who answered our many calls with such grace! We offer gratitude to Dr. Valerie Israel and staff at Southwest Oncology Center, who always treated us like family, not simply cancer patients. Bless you. We also want to thank Dimond & Sons Silver Bell Chapel's staff for their incredible kindness. Mack's Celebration of Life will be held sometime this Fall. Donations in Mack's name may be made to Community Lutheran Church's Water Fund, or Tunnels to Towers Foundation (T2T.org). "Together, Until the Twelfth of Never" Visit our Obituary Guest Book at www.mohavedailynews.com. |
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