Billy Dale Ezell

Billie Dale Ezell, 90, of Siloam Springs (Weddington), died Friday, May 22, 2015, at the Willard Walker Hospice Home in Fayetteville, Arkansas. He was born June 24, 1924, in Summers, the son of Claude Elmer Ezell and Edna Catherine Wassum, and raised by a loving stepmother, Ada Jean Willis Ezell. He married Theda Cawthon on June 22, 1946, and was a retired dairy farmer on a farm which has been in the family since the 1860's. Dale served in the U.S. Army Air Corps in World War II, flying 32 missions over Germany and Occupied Europe, including 2 over Omaha Beach on D-Day. For his service he was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross, the Air Medal with five oak leaf clusters, and, specifically for his service on D-Day, the French Legion of Honor Medal. He was active as a Mason for 49 years in Key Lodge No. 7 in Siloam Springs, having been a Past Master and Lodge Secretary for 22 years, a 32nd Degree Scottish Rite KCCH and Past Patron several times of Siloam Springs Order of the Eastern Star . Survivors include his wife, Theda Faye Cawthon Ezell of the home; two sons, Richard Dale Ezell and husband John Michael Morgan of Atlanta, Ga., and Michael Lloyd Ezell and wife Holly Anne Millsap Ezell of Spring, Texas, and Weddington; three sisters-in-law, Helen Lucille Slaten Ezell of Farmington, Anna Elizabeth Brandon of Summers, and Julie Margrett Burdick Ezell of Anaheim, Calif.; four grandchildren, Stephania Anne Ezell Abell and husband Charles Dana Abell of Norman, Okla., Christopher Dale Ezell and wife Penny Celeste Stewart Ezell of Fayetteville, Nathan Michael Ezell of Austin, Texas, and Rachel Anne Ezell and husband Michael Travers O'Keefe of Duxbury, Mass.; six great-grandchildren, Zachary Hayden Abell and Benjamin Orin Abell of Norman, Okla., Katherine Elizabeth Ezell and Alexander Dale Ezell of Fayetteville, and Alden Ezell O'Keefe and Harold Dale O'Keefe of Duxbury, Mass.; and numerous nieces, nephews, great-nieces, great-nephews, and cousins. Visitation will be held at the Backstrom-Pyeatte Funeral Home on Tuesday, May 26, 2015 from 5-7 p.m. Services will be at 10 a.m., Wednesday, May 27, 2015, at Weddington Baptist Church, with interment at Weddington Cemetery. The family requests that in lieu of flowers memorial donations be made to the Masonic Key Lodge No. 7 Siloam Springs High School Scholarship Fund, PO Box 871, Siloam Springs, Ark. Arrangements are under the direction of the Backstrom-Pyeatte Funeral Home of Siloam Springs. To sign online guestbook please visit www.backstrom-pyeatte.com.