Roger Kelly Booco

November 12, 1925 - November 13, 2016

Major Roger Kelly Booco, U.S. Air Force (Ret.), 91, died Sunday, November 13, 2016. Following a private burial with full military honors, a memorial service will be held at 12:00 noon on Friday, November 18, 2016, in Boyce Chapel of First Baptist Church, Columbia, with the Rev. Richard A. Humphries officiating. The family will be available to receive friends and family at the home of Boyd and Lisa Jones from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 16, 2016 and from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, November 17, 2016 at Dunbar Funeral Home, Devine Street Chapel.

Born November 12, 1925, in Jeffersonville, Ohio, Major Booco was the son of the late Ira LeRoy and Pearl Mae Wade Booco. He was a graduate of Wilmington College, Ohio where he met Mary Louise Whiteside and they married in 1952. They had three children and were married until her death in 1989.

Roger had a passion for airplanes from a young age. He pursued that passion by having a career as a pilot in the United States Air Force. He served in World War II (stateside), the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.

After retiring from the United States Air Force at Shaw Air Force Base in Sumter, S.C., he pursued a second career. He became the Chief Pilot for the University of South Carolina, flying first for the athletic department and then for the administration and the President’s office for over twenty years.

After retirement, Roger enjoyed many service opportunities and volunteer activities, most of which involved children, flight or outer space. Roger was a docent at the S.C. State Museum, a member of the Breakfast Optimist Club and a volunteer for the CASA Guardian Ad Litem program. He was a member of the International Space Society, a founding member of the Mars Society, a volunteer for Project Love, life member of the Masonic Jeffersonville Lodge # 468, B-66 Destroyer Association and the S.C. Historic Aviation Society.

He married Nancy Hallman in 1996 and they shared a mutual interest in traveling, Gamecock sports, various USC groups, including USC Associates and the Walker Institute. Together they travelled nationally and internationally. Roger was a member of First Baptist Church of Columbia and the Transformers Sunday School Class.

He is survived by his wife, Nancy Hallman Booco. He is also survived by his three children, Mark Alan Booco and his wife, Shannon Woodroof Booco of Athens, Alabama, Cheryl Booco DeMouy and her husband, Patrick James DeMouy of Columbia, and Lisa Booco Jones and her husband, Boyd Benson Jones of Columbia; seven grandchildren, Alan Woodroof Booco, Rebecca Boyd Givens, Boyd Benson Jones Jr., Mary Louise Jones, Emily Ann DeMouy, Alexander DeMouy and Maximilian DeMouy. He is also survived by three great-grandchildren and a sister, Louise Bowen of Danvers, Illinois.

The family extends a special thanks to the caregivers at Daybreak Adult Care Services and Palmetto Health Hospice.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to First Baptist Church of Columbia, 1306 Hampton Street, Columbia, SC 29201 or the South Carolina State Museum, 301 Gervais Street, Columbia, SC 29214.

Roger was a member of the marching band in 1943.