Louis A. Preston

LTC Louis A. Preston, 96, passed away peacefully on September 10, 2017. Lou was born April 10, 1921, and raised on the family dairy farm, the middle of three sons of Wendell L. and Jessie Higgins Preston. His education started in a one-room schoolhouse at Sheds Corners, NY and continued to the College of Agriculture, Cornell University, class of 1943. As he had taken both basic and advanced ROTC training at Cornell and graduating during WW II, he immediately went to active duty, attending OCS, Class 82, at Fort Sill, OK and assigned as a Second Lieutenant instructor at Fort Bragg, NC. In July 1944, Lou went overseas from San Francisco with the 544th Airborne Field Artillery Battalion to New Guinea as a Reconnaissance & Survey Officer. After combat in the Philippines, Lou returned to the US in September 1946 and was assigned to the Active Reserves as a Captain, serving as Commanding Officer and Battalion Commander. Lou was proud of his military experience spanning over 38 years with the US Army, retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel, having received the Purple Heart, Bronze Star, two Campaign Ribbons and two Battle Stars.

Lou was a well-respected educator at Ithaca High School, starting his teaching career in 1946 in the Vocational Agriculture Department, continuing as a guidance counselor and finishing as Principal and Supervisor of the Evening Extension School.

Throughout his life, Lou was a gentle man of few words, very polite and unassuming. He enjoyed a comfy chair and a good book, as well as his hobbies of coin and stamp collecting. Upon his retirement, he researched his genealogy back to the Mayflower, as an 11th generation descendent of pilgrim Stephen Hopkins.

Lou was predeceased by his loving wife of 63 years, Katherine, in 2011 and his only son, Peter, in 2013, as well as his parents and his beloved brothers, Wendell, Jr. and Francis. Lou will be missed by his loving daughters Elaine Whited and Martha Preston, granddaughter, Christina (Jeremy) Evans, great- grandchildren Mason and Amelia, niece and nephew Barbara (Gerald) Wood and John Preston.

Lou's family is grateful for the compassionate care he received at Bridges Cornell Heights during the last year of his long, full life.

Friends may call at Bangs Funeral Home on Tuesday, September 12 beginning at 4:00 p.m. with a service officiated by long-time family friend, Tim Marchell at 5:00 p.m. Burial, with military honors, will take place at 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, September 13, at Sheds Cemetery, Sheds, NY.

Visitation Prior To The Service Beginning At 4 PM

With Full Military Honors by the United States Army 10th Mountain Division Honor Guard, Fort Drum.

Tuesday, September 12, 2017 5:00 PM

Bangs Funeral Home, Inc. 209 W Green St. Ithaca, New York 14850

Visitation Prior To The Service Beginning At 4 PM

Wednesday, September 13, 2017 10:00 AM

Sheds Cemetery Route 80 DeRuyter, NY 13052

With Full Military Honors by the United States Army 10th Mountain Division Honor Guard, Fort Drum.