A remembrance of my hero C. Heith Baucom, from the Olive Branch community of Marshville, North Carolina, passed away peacefully at his home on Sunday afternoon, June 6, 2021. He was 99 years old and a World War II veteran who served in a B-25 bomber group in the South Pacific Theater of the war. Heith, and his twin brother Keith, who passed in 2012, were born in Olive Branch on September 24, 1921. They were the sons of the late A. Lee Baucom and Blanche Davis Baucom. Heith and Keith operated the Charlotte Office Supply Company for 35 years, retiring in 1986. The funeral service will be held at the Olive Branch Baptist Church, 8804 NC Highway 218, Marshville, NC, 28103, with interment following at the church cemetery. Visitation will be at the church beginning at 1:00 pm on Wednesday, June 9, with the memorial service taking place at 2:00 pm. Heith was born into a farming family, the youngest of eleven children. A younger brother, Myron, died shortly after birth, and an older brother, Bruce, died within days of his birth, as well. From his earliest memory, Heith wanted to fly airplanes! So, upon graduating from the Olive Branch School at the age of 15, he moved to Kannapolis and lived with his older brother Boyce and his family and got a job at Cannon Mills. Making $15 a week he spent $8 on flying lessons and gave his brother $7 for his room and board. When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in 1941, Heith was a 20 year old licensed pilot! He was proud of the fact that he had his pilots license before he had a drivers license! He enlisted immediately in the US Army and was assigned to the Air Corps. His first training was in Cape Girardeau, Missouri. While stationed there, during his leisure time, he would go into town and would often dine at the Walgreen's Drug Store lunch counter. There he met 16 year old Ruby Beatrice Sams, who would tend the lunch counter after school. They struck up a courtship and before moving on to Freeman Field, Indiana, he asked her to wait for him to return from the war and they would get married. She agreed and they wrote to each other throughout his time in the service. From Indiana, Heith was transferred to Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, to complete his multi-engine bomber training. His military education completed, Heith shipped out to San Fancisco where he was assigned a crew and he flew a bomber to Hawaii to meet up with his bomber group. His tour on active duty began in November, 1943, and during the war he fought in the following campaigns: New Guinea, Western Pacific, Luzon, the Philippine Liberation, Southern Philippines and the Bismarck Archipalago. During these campaigns he earned the Asiatic-Pacific Theater Ribbon with 5 Bronze Stars, the Air Medal with 1 Oak Leaf Cluster, the Philippines Liberation Ribbon with 1 Bronze Star and 2 Overseas Service Bars. His tour completed, he arrived in Australia on August 3, 1945, to begin his journey home. He was on a troop ship somewhere in the Pacific Ocean when the atomic bombs were dropped on Japan. Heith's first appointment upon arriving back in the states was in Cape Girardeau, Missouri! He and Ruby were married in the Red Star Baptist Church and, after a honeymoon in Springfield, Missouri, the young couple headed to North Carolina! They got an apartment in Charlotte and Heith got a job at Fowler's Office Supply and started school at King's College. Soon after arriving in Charlotte, Ruby's health began to deteriorate and she was subsequently diagnosed with Tuberculosis. To survive, one of her lungs had to be removed and she resided at the Sanger Clinic for six years before regaining her health. This terrible period behind them, they bought land across the road from Heith's homeplace in Olive Branch and built a house beside the Olive Branch Baptist Church. Now, the young couple focused on raising a family. Ruby's doctors had discouraged her from trying to have a baby, but she would not be deterred! During the next few years Ruby got pregnant five times and miscarried three of the children. Two sons survived, John Heith and Richard Lee Baucom. Ruby's greatest wish was to see her boys raised! She didn't want another woman raising her sons! So she was a devoted wife and mother, a homemaker who never had a drivers license, until she passed on March 7, 1986. Her sons being in their twenties, God had answered her prayers! In 1987, Heith found love and a wonderful companion in Brenda Mullis Thomas and they were married in November of that year. He could not have been blessed with a better helpmate for the challenges he faced in the years ahead. He was diagnosed with colon cancer in 1991 and, over the years, had several surgeries related to the section of colon they removed. Brenda was by his side every minute of every day, doing whatever was required, much of it very distasteful, to help him. The family can only praise God for the impact Brenda had on Heith's longevity! No doubt he survived to see his great-grandchildren because of her selfless devotion to his every need. Heith is survived by his wife, Brenda, of the home, and sons John, of Hamptonville, NC, and Richard, of Olive Branch. John is married to Sherri Henderson Baucom and their children are Thomas Henderson (Ashley), Tyler Baucom (Hayle), Brooke Baucom (Chris Whitt) and Austin Baucom (Kirstin). Great-grandchildren are JT and Braxton Henderson, Jackson and Carter Baucom, Landon Whitt and Hendrix Stanley. Richard is married to April Baucom and they have a daughter, Hailey. I am told that Heith taught the adult men's bible class for 50 years at Olive Branch Baptist Church, where he served as a deacon on several occasions. He did so well for so long that I was confident that we would all see the Lord together in the clouds during the rapture of the church! Well, that didn't happen, but, in his last days, Heith had pleasant conversations with his mother and father and family members who had preceded him in death. He is having a reunion in Heaven that can only be imagined by those of us saved by God's Grace! I look forward to that great reunion day! Holland Funeral Service in Monroe, NC, is serving the family. Memorials may be made to Olive Branch Baptist Church or Community Home Care and Hospice of Indian Trail. John Heith Baucom A proud son