Oscar Milstead

Oscar Vernon O.V. Milstead, Jr., 85, died Monday, October 06, 2008 at his home in Abilene. Visitation will be from 5 to 7 PM on Wednesday, October 8th at Elmwood Funeral Home, 5750 HWY 277 South. A graveside service with military honors and Reverend Don Cauble officiating will be held at 10:00 AM on Thursday, October 9th at the Buffalo Gap Cemetery in Buffalo Gap.

O.V. was born to O.V. Milstead, Sr. and Amanda O. Ellis Milstead in Wichita Falls, Texas on September 28, 1923. He later lived in Fort Worth, Abilene, Munday, Buffalo Gap, and Marble Falls, Texas. O.V. and Billie Gayle Logsdon were childhood sweethearts in the College Heights Elementary School and Abilene High School in 1935-1938. The were later married on March 31, 1950 in Abilene and had four children, Lynda, Stephen, Amanda, and Bill. Billie died in Buffalo Gap on September 11, 1985. Later, O.V. met and married Chieko Shouda Hassell in Brownwood, Texas on August 31, 1987.

Survivors include his loving wife, Chieko; two sons, Stephen Ellis Milstead of Abilene, George C. William Milstead of Abilene; two daughters, Lynda Gayle Anderson of Florida, and Amanda Suzanne Wynn of Carlsbad, California; one step-son, Vernon Lee Hassell Jr. of Houston; one sister, Bonnie Jean Shults of Mosca, Colorado; six grandchildren, three great grandchildren and his loving pet doggie, Picabo Milstead.

Mr. Milstead was preceded in death by his first wife, Billie, his parents, his step-mother, Laura Key Breed Milstead, and by three sisters, Winnifred Brown, Gertrude Tisron and Loutrelle Milstead.

Mr. Milstead graduated from Munday High School in 1941 and later, after enlisting in the U.S. Army, he attended the University of Oklahoma, the University of Wisconsin, Stephen F. Austin State University, the University of Maryland, and the U.S. Army Language School in Monterey, California, graduating in 1951 with a major in Japanese Language.

After enlisting in the military, Milstead served the U.S. Army and the U.S. Air Force for more than twenty years, retiring in April of 1963 as Captain in the U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Branch. He served most all of his service as an Intelligence Research Officer and as a Counter Intelligence Officer, acting in both overt and covert capacity as a special agent of the U.S. Army, Counter Intelligence Corps in many clandestine operations in the United States, St. Lucia B.W. I., the Philippines, all four main islands of Japan, and in Germany. At his 1963 retirement ceremony, held at the Army Intelligence Center in Baltimore, Maryland, he was awarded the U.S. Army Commendation Medal by Major General Garrison B. Coverdale.

Upon retirement from active military service, O.V. returned to Abilene and was employed as the Legal and Claims officer for the Texas Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation for work at Abilene State School. He was soon promoted to Personnel Director as ABSS and in 1974, became the Director of Staff Services, responsible for both Personnel and the Employee Training Departments. After more than twenty-two years of State service, Milstead once again retired. For all of this time, Milstead was also serving as a volunteer in the Volunteer Services Foster Grandparent Program, the Abilene United Way and the Texas Public Employees Association TPEA.
P One great love was serving as a very active member of the Texas Public Employees Association TPEA. He served all public employees of Texas as an elected member of the Board of Directors for five terms and fifteen years, serving most all of the Officer positions, including President in

Visitation

Elmwood Funeral Home
5750 HWY 277 South
Abilene, TX  79606
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
5:00 to 7:00 PM

Service

Graveside Service

Buffalo Gap CemeteryHav
Taylor County
Buffalo Gap, TX  79508
Thursday, October 9, 2008
10:00 AM

Memorial Contributions

Hospice of the Big Country
4601 Hartford St.
Abilene, TX  79605

Food Bank of AbileneHav
5505 N. 1st ST
Abilene, TX  79603

Abilene State School Volunteer Services
PO Box 451
Abilene, TX  79604