West Point 1946

 

Silas R. Molyneaux Col., USAF, Ret. Of Lockport, NY formerly of Barker, NY husband of Marilyn Brauer Molyneaux and the late Eleanor Kaltenborn Molyneaux entered into rest Saturday, October 27, 2012 in Eastern Niagara Hospital, Lockport, NY. He was born in Houghton, NY April 14, 1916, the son of the late Robert and Pearl Ingersoll Molyneaux. Silas was a Graduate of Houghton College (BA) and Columbia University (MA) and received an honorary doctorate from Houghton College. He began his teaching career at Barker Central School in 1936 at age 20, where he taught history for five years before moving to Ithica, NY to begin a doctoral program in education. The day after the attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted as an Aviation Cadet in the Army Air Corps. He received his wings in 1943 as a Second Lieutenant, and became an instructor pilot, training new pilots for the war effort. At the end of World War II, he was assigned to the US Military Academy at West Point, NY, as a professor of History and as an instructor in Cadet flight training. Silas was selected to join the US Air Force at its conception in 1947, and went on to serve as an Air Base Commander in Japan during the Korean war. He flew A-26 fighter/bomber combat missions over Korea with the Air Force 13th Bomb squadron. Following the Korean War, he returned to West Point, and later became a member of the original group of officers that started the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. He taught history and political science at the Academy, then served at USAF Headquarters at the Pentagon before retiring as a Colonel in 1964. After his retirement from the Air Force, Silas returned with his family to Barker, New York, and began a new career as Executive to the President of Buffalo State College, from which he retired in 1978. He also served the Niagara County Community College as a member of its Board of Trustees, and was one of the founding members of the NCCC Foundation board. Silas was a member of the Somerset Masonic Lodge #639 for more than 70 years, and a member of the Quiet Birdmen since 1954. He was a member of the Faith United Methodist Church and the Herbert Carr Legion Post in Barker, NY. He also was a member of Lockport's Lock City Glee Club for several years. Father of Joel (Lynda) Molyneaux of Omaha, NE and Leslie (Paul) Fuzak of Buffalo, NY. Grandfather of Ann (Charles) Walcutt, Kelly (John) Vornbrock, Elita and Zakery Fuzak. Bother of the late Glenn, Max, Evan, and Charles Molyneaux and Roberta Grange. Also survived by several nieces and nephews.