Homer Alton LaMotte

Obituary for Homer Alton LaMotte Homer LaMotte died at 12:45 p.m. Thursday, September the 3rd, 2015 from respiratory failure in his room at The Atria of Encinitas California. The morning of his final passing Homer received visits from several friends and was kept comfortable by Hospice professionals and overseen by his daughter Carla and her husband Ted. Homer was born on August 14, 1932, in Alpine, Texas, and grew up in Bryan and College Station, Texas, where his father was a professor at Texas A&M. He graduated from A&M Consolidated High School in 1949, attended Sul Ross State College and later the University of Mississippi with a Navy scholarship. In Bryan, Texas the family lived on a 10-acre farm—dubbed "Shady Acres"—where they rode horses, milked cows, raised beef steers, chickens, rabbits, turkeys, pigs, and enjoyed playing football, basketball and baseball. While attending Sul Ross Homer met his first wife Betty Sue Hargus who grew up nearby in Marathon Texas. During the summer of 1950 Homer would ride the Southern Pacific train from Alpine to Marathon to visit with Betty and enjoy her mom's cooking and then head to "The Post", the local natural spring swimming hole. When offered a Naval ROTC Scholarship to attend the University of Mississippi "Ole Miss", he transferred there in 1950. Upon graduation with a degree in Chemical Engineering in 1953, he received a commission as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corp. On August 8, 1953 Homer and Betty married in the Marathon Methodist Church. His military service began with Basic Training at Quantico, Virginia and continued with flight training in Pensacola, Florida and later Corpus Christi, Texas. Homer and Betty moved in 1955 to El Toro, California where Homer continued flying in a Marine squadron. His service as a Marine flyer continued in the Marine Reserves as a Weekend Warrior for several years after his honorable discharge as a First Lieutenant in 1957, and, while in that latter role, he rose to the rank of Major. Even though Homer flew many aircraft (both prop and jet), the F-8 "Crusader" was his favorite. He described it as being "a big jet engine with wings". The early years of landing jets on aircraft carriers was both risky and dangerous. Homer truly had the "right stuff" to perform these duties that required nerves of steel. Homer worked as an engineer and successful sales representative. He worked for Combustion Engineering the longest, until being retired when CE was bought by another company. In his sixties, he took work as a software tech supporter, alongside techies a third his age. He went back to school at Madison Technical Institute and completed a degree in accounting, then worked happily at the state hospital in Madison for several years. Finally he retired at age of 79 due to his long struggle with lung disease. Homer and Betty raised their two children Gary and Carla and three Samoyed dogs in Houston, Texas. Summer vacations were spent on camping trips, including the three dogs, in a large tent and later a pop up trailer to scenic mountainous areas in Colorado, New Mexico and California. Homer also enjoyed deer hunting trips with his buddies to Terlingua in West Texas. Homer married his third wife Marlene 'Micki' Haushalter in 1991. Homer resided in Sun Prairie, Wisconsin for the rest of his working career. Homer and Micki enjoyed golfing, playing games, and vacationing together. In 2011, Homer moved to Encinitas, CA, to be near his daughter Carla and took up residence in The Atria of Encinitas, an attractive assisted-living facility. Always physically active, he walked daily with his friend Alverna along the coastal highway overlooking the ocean until he could no longer summon the energy needed to do so. Homer continued to do his two mile coastal walk where his determination to keep moving was greatly admired by the other walkers he met on the path. Homer frequently expressed "No Hill for a Climber" when encountering any physical challenges and this became his unique expression of positivity. Homer was friendly, folksy, stout, sharp-witted, kind, popular, easily loved, a born salesman, a lover of games, and a sensible man with no presumptions of grandeur. Yet—to those closest to him—he was an enigma, stoic in his suppressed emotions and cryptic in his limited personal communications. A postcard from his college days to his parents was typical: "Dear Folks, How are you? Send money. Love, Homer" Homer is survived by his two children Carla DeBont and Dr. Gary LaMotte, M.D., and their mother Betty Imler, by Carla's husband Ted and his two daughters, Gary's wife Grace and her three sons and Gary's three daughters (Homer's grandchildren) Emilie LaMotte, Jessica Schmidtbauer, and Amy LaMotte and their mother Sarah and Jessica's husband Mike, and by Homer's three siblings, Clifford, Jeanelle, and Lynn Roy. Homer was preceded in death by his third wife Marlene LaMotte in 2012 and by his parents Charles and Lola Mae LaMotte. Services include a memorial service at The Atria in Encinitas on September 17th at 2pm. A viewing at Allen Brothers Mortuary in San Marcos between 4 to 8 pm with the actual service from 6 to 7 pm. The military burial service will be held at Miramar National Cemetery on September 18th from 12:30 to 1:00 pm. More details on the services can be found by clicking on the Services icon. Memorial contributions, in lieu of flowers, can be made to the Christmas Fund established at The Atria of Encinitas to specifically benefit the hourly employees which includes the care-givers, medical technicians, kitchen staff, housekeeping and maintenance personnel that provided such wonderful care to Homer. To donate to this fund you may write a check to : William White with a note at the bottom "Atria Christmas Fund - Homer LaMotte". Click here for Stories about Homer's Life Mailing Address for your memorial contribution on behalf of Homer LaMotte is: William White Atria Senior Living 504 S. El Camino Real Encinitas, CA 92024

Homer Alton LaMotte

August 14, 1932 - September 3, 2015