John James Bily was born Sept. 27, 1916 to Jan and Josephine Bily in St. Paul, Minn., and peacefully passed away June 11, 2009. He was 92 years old.
Mr. Bily began service to his country in 1933, at 17, in the 206th Infantry of the National Guard in Minnesota ending his service in 1961 as Lt. Col. of the United States Air Force.
World War II sent Mr. Bily to the Pacific in New Guinea and Australia in the 90th Bomb Group, known as the famous Jolly Rogers, flying the B-24 Liberators. His military career spanned 27 years as weather/radar officer and electrical/aeronautical engineer.
After retirement he joined the Boeing Co. as an aeronautical engineer working on the Lunar Orbitor, SST, Quantas, and AWACS program systems for 17 years. He married the love of his life, Mac, in 1949 having met her through the Air Force. Their family grew to three daughters: Barbara, Lana and Rita.
A gifted, intelligent and loving man, Mr. Bily's passions included ballroom dancing, boating, fishing and bird hunting with his sporting comrades, playing bridge with lifelong neighbors, visiting his Minnesota family and Illinois farm relatives and cruising the Caribbean Sea all the way to Africa and his ancestral home of the Czech Republic.
The joy of his later years was being surrounded on happy family occasions by his sons-in-law, treasured five granddaughters, their husbands and beloved seven great-grandchildren.
Known as the love of their lives, Mr. Bily will be the greatest missing for his wife and daughters.
A viewing will be held from 2-5 p.m., Wednesday, June 17 at Wiggen & Sons Mortuary, 2003 N.W. 57th St., Ballard. At 11:15 a.m., on Thursday, June 18, a military honor burial service will occur at Tahoma National Cemetery followed by a celebratory memorial service, 3 p.m., at Magnolia Presbyterian Church, 3051 - 28th Ave. W. Memorials may be made to Magnolia Presbyterian Church where Mr. Bily was a devoted member for 48 years.[[In-content Ad]]
