Maurice Walter Bourne, Jr.

Maurice Walter Bourne, Jr., was born to Maurice Walter Sr. & Roberta Esther (Martindale) Bourne on May 30, 1939, in Houston, Texas. He passed away August 13, 2025, in Georgetown, Texas.

Maurice grew up in Marquez. Early employment included farm laborer, logger, and truck driver. He then became an officer in the US Air Force and was a navigator in various USAF aircraft. He was an officer in the First Air Commando Wing and flew seventy-five combat missions in Vietnam, for which he received the Distinguished Flying Cross and several other medals. Maurice trained mercenary pilots in the Congo in 1964. He received an Honorable Discharge (medical) as a First Lieutenant after losing a leg in an aircraft accident in Florida.

He was a commercial pilot, flight instructor, crop duster, A&P mechanic, and FAA Flight Examiner. He has logged over sixty-five hundred aircraft hours, plus over fifteen hundred flights in gliders.

He was the founder and manager of a commuter airline in Western Kentucky for eleven years.

He returned to the family farm and established a business manufacturing fiberglass vehicles.

He was the Fire Chief for the Marquez Volunteer Fire Department for twenty years.

Maurice was a role model and an inspiration for each of us.

Maurice was preceded in death by both of his parents and sister, June Bourne McKinley. Survivors include sister, Martha Bourne Whinery, Hm.D; brothers, Cecil M. Bourne, M.D. and wife, Cynthia Bourne, and Dudley Bourne, as well as a host of extended family and special friends.

A funeral service honoring Maurice's life will be held 10 A.M., Friday, August 22, 2025, at Marquez Baptist Church, Marquez, Texas. Pastor of the church, Wayne Ramsey, will officiate the service. Interment with honors provided by the U.S. Air Force will follow in Marquez Cemetery. Visitation will take place Thursday, August 21, 2025, from 6 P.M. to 8 P.M. at Walters Funeral Home, Centerville, Texas.

Pallbearers:  Jeff Bourne, Mark Wacasey, TJ Foley, Max McKinley, Curt McKinley, Shawn Halon

In lieu of flowers, the Bourne family kindly requests memorial donations be made to the Marquez Fire Department.

Arrangements are under the direction of Walters Funeral Home, Centerville, Texas.