Wilbur Landrum Finley
Flint
Graveside service for Wilbur Landrum Finley, 88, of Flint will be Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2009, at 2 p.m. at Center Springs Cemetery with the Rev. Billy Cagle officiating and Ridout's Brown-Service Funeral Home directing. Visitation will be tonight from 6 to 8 at the funeral home. Mr. Finley, who died Saturday, Jan. 10, 2009, was born Aug. 9, 1920, one of seven children, in LaFayette, Ala., to William S. Finley and Leola M. Finley nee Landrum. He entered military service in the Alabama National Guard in 1939 and was activated for the duration of the War and trained at Camp Shelby, Miss., in 1942, prior to overseas service in the Pacific Theater. He was Wounded in Action on Mindanao June 5, 1945, and was awarded the Purple Heart and Combat Infantry Badge for his actions. He married Wynonna Fowler on Dec. 2, 1945. He attended Snead College in Boaz and transferred to Alabama Polytechnic at Auburn, now Auburn University in Alabama, and graduated with a BSME in 1949. He worked in Detroit, Mich., prior to working for the Department of the Navy from 1950 to 1955 at Charleston Naval Shipyards in Charleston, S.C., as a Civil Service employee. He transferred to the Department of the Army ABMA/AOMC in 1955 and worked on Redstone Arsenal until his retirement in 1973, after the death of his wife, Wynonna, on Jan. 17, 1973. During his time at Redstone Arsenal, he worked on the Redstone, Jupiter C, Little John, Honest John, Corporal, Sergeant and Chaparral Missile Systems. He was the Chief Project Test Officer for the Chaparral Missile System, prior to his retirement. While at Redstone, he received many awards and recognitions for his accomplishments, and was a graduate of Pennsylvania State University Business and Engineering Management Program. Mr. Finley was one of the Founding Families of Whitesburg Baptist Church in Huntsville, an offshoot of Southside Baptist Church in 1957. Several church services and meetings were held in the basement of his house at 514 Four Mile Post Road prior to using Fort Raymond Jones Armory on Memorial Parkway. He was a longtime Deacon and Sunday school teacher, and was well-respected by all in the WBC community until his departure to Decatur in 1975. He was preceded in death by his parents; his wife, Wynonna; and brothers, Arthur Finley, Edwin Finley and Charles Finley, all World War II veterans. He is survived by his current wife of 35 years, Betty J. Finley; youngest brother, Henry Finley of Boaz; two sisters, Bernice Plummer of Michigan and Lemerle Finley of Boaz; son, Kenneth W. Finley; four grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren; and current wife's children, Larry Speakman, Deborah Cofield and Carl Speakman; five grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. Memorials may be made to Hospice of the Valley.