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Earl Hyde, 101

Aug. 21, 1918 — Oct. 3, 2019

I’m sorry to say that my dear Dad, best friend and confidant, Earl T. Hyde Jr. passed away quietly in his sleep on Oct. 3, 2019, at the age of 101. He lived at Brookdale Senior Living in Coeur d’Alene for the past several years.

In reflecting on his life’s accomplishments and achievements, I think most people would say that Earl had a pretty good run.

Earl was born on Aug. 21, 1918, to Earl T. Hyde Sr. and Edith Mae Hyde, in Meredosia, Ill. At the time, Earl Sr. was working as an engineer/machinist/draftsman for the Eli Bridge Company, a designer and manufacturer of Ferris wheels, bridges and other fabrications.

In the late 1920s, when the Great Depression started, Earl Sr. lost his job with Eli Bridge and the family moved to nearby Jacksonville, Ill., where Earl Sr. got the only job he could find — punching buttons out of mussel shells harvested from the Illinois River. The family barely made it during those times. In 1928, Earl Jr.’s brother Gordon was born.

In 1928, Earl Sr. was driving with Earl Jr. as a passenger in a Model A sedan when they were struck head-on by an oncoming car. Earl Jr. was propelled through the plate glass window as his pelvis struck the metal dash, receiving glass lacerations to his face, shoulders and back, and a broken pelvis. An X-ray machine wasn’t available, so Earl’s broken pelvis went undetected. It healed out of place, resulting in Earl’s right leg being an inch shorter than his left. During his teenage years, Earl always noticed that his shadow on the wall was leaning, so he made a concentrated effort to stand straight, which resulted in a permanent curvature (scoliosis) of his spine. However, he did stand in a vertical stance.

Earl did well through high school and, in the late 1930s, was accepted into the University of Missouri’s civil engineering program on an ROTC scholarship. The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, with one semester short of graduation, Earl signed up with the U.S. Army. He became a 2nd Lieutenant and was shipped off to Fort Benning, Ga., to design and supervise the construction of tank ranges and to prepare for war.

Earl always liked getting into mischief, which he did in a big way at Fort Benning, with the explicit approval of his post commander, Col. Spangler. Spangler was a gung-ho, blood-and-guts leader like Gen. Patton. He worked his troops hard, but also cared for them and made sure they had the best of everything. Spangler insisted on having an award-winning drum and bugle corps, but couldn’t get the funds he needed to buy top-notch flags, instruments and parade uniforms. So he and Earl devised a plan to buy tobacco and liquor on the black market, then sell it to the troops through the supply sergeant’s window at a reduced cost. They did this in direct competition with the Post Exchange. All profits went to their drum and bugle corps procurement budget, which led to their developing the sharpest drum and bugle corps in the Army — for a while.

As luck would have it, someone ratted them out. During a surprise inspection, the Inspector General discovered and confiscated their stash, then shut down their thriving business enterprise. Then, as if by magic, both Spangler and Earl Jr. received orders to report to 7th Army Headquarters, in Casablanca, Morocco, to prepare for the invasion of southern France. Earl became the commander, C Company, 2nd Platoon, 450th Engineer Depot Company, 45th Infantry Division Beach Group, under Gen. Patch’s 7th Army.

From Casablanca, they caravanned east across northern Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya to the Port of Tripoli. From there, they sailed across the Mediterranean Sea to their beach landing-point near Sainte Maxime, France. From there, Earl’s 7th Army formed up adjacent to Gen. Patton’s 3rd Army. Earl often said that he could identify Patton’s soldiers by their freshly shined boots. From that point, they marched north through France, fighting what was called “The Battle of the Bulge.”

As they were chasing German infantry north and east through German-occupied France, Earl’s 450th Engineer Depot Company’s job was to repair the roads and bridges the Germans had tried to destroy during their hasty retreat back across France. The Germans were trying to slow down the allied advancement of the 45th Infantry Division’s mechanized armor.

As a combat engineering officer and platoon commander, Earl was awarded a Bronze Star for directing the construction of a floating Bailey bridge crucial to the 45th’s advancement, and a Purple Heart for having the tip of his nose shot off during a behind-the-lines engagement with German troops while on a reconnaissance run. Earl’s Purple Heart was personally pinned on him by Gen. Omar Bradley.

When World War II ended, Earl took a few engineering classes from Birmingham University in England while he waited for a ride home. After he arrived back in the states, Earl completed the final classes to graduate with a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering at the University of Missouri. He later earned an MBA from Mizzou.

During one of his trips home to St. Louis from Mizzou, Earl met, and then married the love of his life, Jacqueline (Jackie) Korte.

Earl was then hired as a civil servant with the Army Aviation Systems Command (AAVSCOM) in St. Louis. Earl and Jackie had their only child in 1955, son Earl III (Skip). Earl continued his civil service career at AAVSCOM, retiring in 1974 as a GS 15, Step 8, a civilian rank equivalent to a military rank of major general (two stars). During his years with civil service, he also taught night school engineering classes for 21 years at Washington University. He also designed and built seven custom homes for his family and friends. Earl, Jackie, and Skip moved into one of Earl’s homes in 1960.

After Earl retired in 1974, he and Jackie owned and operated several high-end interior-decorating shops in St. Louis. They traveled all over the world on buying and on pleasure trips. Earl often “slightly bent the customs rules” on these trips. Returning from one buying trip to Hong Kong, he was intercepted by customs officials while carrying many thousands of dollars in furs that he and Jackie had bought and had not declared. He had forgotten to mail the receipt home, and the customs official found it in his wallet. Earl and Jackie were fined thousands of dollars. Earl cheerfully paid the fine because he and Jackie still doubled their money on the fur sales, even considering the fines. He looked at almost everything he did as a game that he could get good at if he practiced. He had great fun at it.

Earl was also very adventuresome. He learned to snow ski when he was 68, joined several senior ski clubs, and skied all over the world in places like Bariloche, Argentina, the Tasman Glacier, New Zealand, and Kitzbuhel, Austria. His fascination with rail travel led Earl to ride the Trans-Siberian Railroad across Europe and Siberia to Vladivostok, not far from the Chinese and North Korean borders. He even wrote USSR President Mikhail Gorbachev a letter in advance, letting him know that Earl Hyde would be transiting Russia by rail. He often wondered if that was why he was treated better on that trip than the average traveler.

When Earl was 86, he lost his loving wife, Jackie, after 59 years of marriage. He is survived by his brother, Gordon; super-grandson, Roy and his son, Earl III (“Skip”), who is ever-grateful to Earl for putting up with all of Skip’s shenanigans through the years. Special thanks to Earl’s caregiver, Kim King, who took loving care of him for the past several years.

“To you Dad, I say goodbye, Godspeed, thanks for everything and hope to see you later. Your loving son, Skip. Oct. 4, 2019.”