Glenn Mcleod

Glenn N. McLeod, CMSgt, Retired, USAF

Glenn McLeod, 84, passed away on Wednesday, August 26, 2020, in Abilene, after a long battle with Alzheimer’s disease and a brief one with Coronavirus.

Visitation will be held on Monday, October 5th, from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Elmwood Funeral Home, 5750 Hwy 277 S., followed by a committal service with full military honors at 1:00 p.m. at the Texas State Veterans Cemetery at Abilene, 7457 W. Lake Rd.

Glenn Newton McLeod was born in Ralls, Texas, to Frank and Rosa McLeod on April 15, 1936. He attended Lockney High School and married Ruby Wilson on September 27, 1953. They were blessed with four sons, Mike, Gary, David, and James. The family attended Calvary Baptist Church, where Glenn proudly served as a deacon.

Glenn enlisted in the U.S. Air Force on October 26, 1953, beginning a distinguished military career that would take him to assignments in Okinawa, Japan (Kadena AFB); El Paso (Biggs AFB); Frankfurt, Germany (Rhein-Main AFB); Newport News, VA (Langley AFB); Vietnam; Marquette, Michigan (K.I. Sawyer AFB); Colorado Springs, Colorado (Elton AFB); and Guam (Andersen AFB). He was also stationed at Dyess AFB twice, where he would ultimately retire in February 1980 as Chief of Maintenance of the 463 Tactical Airlift Wing. Glenn was particularly honored to have flown many missions on and miraculously survived two crashes on “his” plane, “Old Shaky,” the C-124 Globemaster II. His love of America and its military was unsurpassed.

Glenn married Pamela Howard Bannister on April 4, 2013. They shared a love of golf and enjoyed playing with family and friends at the Dyess AFB and Shady Oaks courses. Pam said that Glenn made it his goal to make all of her travel dreams come true. Together, they traveled to many destinations across the United States and took multiple cruises abroad, including a particularly memorable one to Denmark, Sweden, and Russia. Glenn loved watching sports of all kinds, especially baseball, basketball, and softball games in which his grandchildren were playing. Beneath his tough exterior was a generous man easily moved to tears, someone who was always first to offer help to a family member or friend in need.

Glenn was preceded in death by his parents; brothers, Dwayne, and Bob; sister, Lois Bowley; son-in-law, Don Kincaid; and grandson, William Crow.

Left to cherish his memory are his wife, Pam McLeod of Abilene; sister, Una Martin of Boise, ID; his children and their spouses, Mike & Helen McLeod of Snyder, Gary & Traci McLeod of Manchaca, David McLeod of Rio Rancho, NM, James & Cindy McLeod of Paris, David & Kathy Hicks of Springtown, Mike & Mindy Bannister of Abilene, Lance & Alison Bannister of Ellicott City, MD, and Dianne Kincaid of Arvada, CO.; 18 grandchildren, Chris McLeod (Whitney), Lauren McLeod, Lindsey McLeod, Aidan McLeod, Ryan McLeod, Jana Smith (Joe), Tiffany McLeod, Lisa McLeod, David Figueiredo (Lindsey), Michelle Crow (David Goins), Tracy Sadeghi (Sadegh), Miller Bannister, Jeremy Bannister, Lindsey Bannister (Carole), Landon Bannister (Courtney), Leighton Bannister (Leslie), Travis Kincaid (Mallory), and Alex Kincaid; 17 great-grandchildren; his former wife, Ruby McLeod; several nieces and nephews; a host of friends; and his beloved dogs, Sassy and Taffy.

The family wishes to express their sincere appreciation for Vee Mansaray, Glenn’s “Visiting Angel” for the love and care she provided to him the last few years of his life. In lieu of flowers, donations in Glenn’s memory may be made to the Hope Street Heroes Abilene WALK to End Alzheimer’s team at https://act.alz.org/site/TR/Walk2020/TX-NorthCentralTexas?team_id=617684&pg=team&fr_id=13866 or mailed to the Alzheimer’s Association, P.O. Box 5322, Abilene, Texas 79608.