Fuller Metz Cremation and Funeral Services
| 3740 Del Prado Blvd S
| Cape Coral, FL 33904
| Tel: 239-542-3161
| 3740 Del Prado Blvd S
| Cape Coral, FL 33904
| Tel: 239-542-3161
Welcome to the memorial page for
Col. Charles Edward Pear
April 20, 1925 ~ February 19, 2017 (age 91) 91 Years OldShare Tribute:
A decorated Vietnam War veteran who lived in Cape Coral nearly 40 years and served community organizations such as the Cape Coral High School Marching Band, the Cape Coral Winter Festival and Cape Coral’s Faith Presbyterian Church has died.
Colonel Charles E. Pear was 91 when he died from complications of hip surgery at his Cape Coral home Feb. 19.
Pear joined the Army-Air Corp as a teenager during World War II, earned two distinguished flying crosses and five air medals in Vietnam and later served the Joint Logistics Commanders, before moving to Cape Coral in 1979 and starting a new career in banking.
Born in East St. Louis, Ill., in 1925, and raised in Belleville, Ill, Pear graduated from pilot training in November of 1944 in San Antonio, Texas and soon after completed training to fly B-24 bombers.
“My best friend said he had signed up to take the Army-Air Corps exam to become a pilot,” Pear often recounted. “And I thought, hey buster, if you can do it, I can do it too.”
As the commander of a B-24 bomber at age 19 with a crew of 10, he was supposed to make bombing runs in Operation Downfall, the allied-planned invasion of Japan.
The operation was aborted after Japan surrendered following the atomic bomb droppings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Pear stayed in the Army-Air Corp as it transitioned into the US Air Force in 1947.
In 1948 he married Barbara Jane Hill in Hawaii and the couple later had four children.
Pear also became a pilot in the Air Force’s Strategic Air Command and flew B-47s from Florida to North Africa and later B-52s during the Cold War between the United States and its NATO allies and the Soviet Union and it satellite countries.
As an officer in the Air Force he began taking courses through the University of Maryland and graduated in 1956 with a bachelors’ in military science. He also graduated from the Air War College in 1967 and was transferred to Phan Rang Airbase in Vietnam, where he flew C-123s transport planes in combat.
During the North Vietnamese Tet Offensive he made numerous stop-and-go landings under enemy fire to supply US Marines in the Battle of Khe Sahn and evacuated wounded soldiers.
Often US fighter jets strafed both sides of the airfield to cover Pear’s plane as the then, Lt. Colonel did his drops and made his pickups.
“God was really looking out for me,” he said on numerous occasions.
He flew approximately 1,000 hours in Vietnam, and he earned two distinguished flying crosses, five air medals, the Presidential Unit Citation, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm.
Pear’s Vietnam service concluded in 1968, and he was promoted to full colonel. He then served as an assistant to the Chief of Staff of the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) at Hickam Air Force Base.
He ended his 33 years of active duty at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, serving the Joint Logistics Commanders, a committee of generals, admirals and other high-ranking officers that coordinate manpower and resources between the different branches of the military.
In addition to his Vietnam medals, Pear earned the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, one Air Force and two Army commendation medals, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Command medal, the World War II Victory medal, the Army of Occupation Medal and the National Defense Service Medal
After retiring from the Air Force in 1976, Pear completed a master’s in public administration from Golden Gate University in California through a branch campus at Tampa’s MacDill Air Force Base.
He moved with his family to Cape Coral in 1979. There he was a booster for the Cape Coral High School Marching Seahawk Band between 1979 and 1983 and coordinated canoe races for the Cape Coral Winter Festival that was held in the 1980s a week after the Edison Festival of Lights.
He was also a deacon at Faith Presbyterian Church on Coronado Parkway, an active member of the Retired Officer’s Association, and a member of Palmetto Pines Country Club.
During the 1980s Pear became an assistant regional manager at Florida Federal and retired from banking in 1991.
A funeral service will be held at Faith Presbyterian Church Feb. 27, 2017 at 2:00PM, and he will be buried at Arlington Cemetery at a date to be determined by the military.
He is survived by his wife Barbara J. Pear, a daughter, Debra LeRoy and her husband Robert LeRoy, his son and daughter-in-law, Charles E. Pear Jr. and Linda Pear and sons Robert K Pear, and Thomas A. Pear. He is also survived by his sister Marie Lentz and seven grandchildren: Jennifer Pear, Charles E. Pear III, Stephanie Pear, Amy LeRoy, Michael LeRoy, Danielle Pear, and Arielle Pear.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Faith Presbyterian Church in Cape Coral, FL. Please write Col. Charles E Pear in the memo line.
Colonel Charles E. Pear was 91 when he died from complications of hip surgery at his Cape Coral home Feb. 19.
Pear joined the Army-Air Corp as a teenager during World War II, earned two distinguished flying crosses and five air medals in Vietnam and later served the Joint Logistics Commanders, before moving to Cape Coral in 1979 and starting a new career in banking.
Born in East St. Louis, Ill., in 1925, and raised in Belleville, Ill, Pear graduated from pilot training in November of 1944 in San Antonio, Texas and soon after completed training to fly B-24 bombers.
“My best friend said he had signed up to take the Army-Air Corps exam to become a pilot,” Pear often recounted. “And I thought, hey buster, if you can do it, I can do it too.”
As the commander of a B-24 bomber at age 19 with a crew of 10, he was supposed to make bombing runs in Operation Downfall, the allied-planned invasion of Japan.
The operation was aborted after Japan surrendered following the atomic bomb droppings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and Pear stayed in the Army-Air Corp as it transitioned into the US Air Force in 1947.
In 1948 he married Barbara Jane Hill in Hawaii and the couple later had four children.
Pear also became a pilot in the Air Force’s Strategic Air Command and flew B-47s from Florida to North Africa and later B-52s during the Cold War between the United States and its NATO allies and the Soviet Union and it satellite countries.
As an officer in the Air Force he began taking courses through the University of Maryland and graduated in 1956 with a bachelors’ in military science. He also graduated from the Air War College in 1967 and was transferred to Phan Rang Airbase in Vietnam, where he flew C-123s transport planes in combat.
During the North Vietnamese Tet Offensive he made numerous stop-and-go landings under enemy fire to supply US Marines in the Battle of Khe Sahn and evacuated wounded soldiers.
Often US fighter jets strafed both sides of the airfield to cover Pear’s plane as the then, Lt. Colonel did his drops and made his pickups.
“God was really looking out for me,” he said on numerous occasions.
He flew approximately 1,000 hours in Vietnam, and he earned two distinguished flying crosses, five air medals, the Presidential Unit Citation, the Vietnam Service Medal, the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal, and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm.
Pear’s Vietnam service concluded in 1968, and he was promoted to full colonel. He then served as an assistant to the Chief of Staff of the Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) at Hickam Air Force Base.
He ended his 33 years of active duty at Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, serving the Joint Logistics Commanders, a committee of generals, admirals and other high-ranking officers that coordinate manpower and resources between the different branches of the military.
In addition to his Vietnam medals, Pear earned the Legion of Merit, the Meritorious Service Medal, one Air Force and two Army commendation medals, the American Campaign Medal, the Asiatic Pacific Command medal, the World War II Victory medal, the Army of Occupation Medal and the National Defense Service Medal
After retiring from the Air Force in 1976, Pear completed a master’s in public administration from Golden Gate University in California through a branch campus at Tampa’s MacDill Air Force Base.
He moved with his family to Cape Coral in 1979. There he was a booster for the Cape Coral High School Marching Seahawk Band between 1979 and 1983 and coordinated canoe races for the Cape Coral Winter Festival that was held in the 1980s a week after the Edison Festival of Lights.
He was also a deacon at Faith Presbyterian Church on Coronado Parkway, an active member of the Retired Officer’s Association, and a member of Palmetto Pines Country Club.
During the 1980s Pear became an assistant regional manager at Florida Federal and retired from banking in 1991.
A funeral service will be held at Faith Presbyterian Church Feb. 27, 2017 at 2:00PM, and he will be buried at Arlington Cemetery at a date to be determined by the military.
He is survived by his wife Barbara J. Pear, a daughter, Debra LeRoy and her husband Robert LeRoy, his son and daughter-in-law, Charles E. Pear Jr. and Linda Pear and sons Robert K Pear, and Thomas A. Pear. He is also survived by his sister Marie Lentz and seven grandchildren: Jennifer Pear, Charles E. Pear III, Stephanie Pear, Amy LeRoy, Michael LeRoy, Danielle Pear, and Arielle Pear.
In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to Faith Presbyterian Church in Cape Coral, FL. Please write Col. Charles E Pear in the memo line.
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