Gregory Durio

Opelousas Gregory Eugene Durio, Lt. Col. USAF ret., 60, slipped the surly bonds of earth one last and final time on October 17th 2012.

Funeral services will include a wake at LafondArdoin Funeral Home in Opelousas on Sunday, October 21, 2012 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. with a Rosary at 7:00 p.m., and a funeral Mass to be conducted on Monday, October 22, 2012 at 9:00 oclock a.m. at St. Landry Catholic Church, Opelousas, Louisiana, with interment with full Military Honors at Cedar Hill Cemetery in Washington, Louisiana.

Greg was the oldest son of James E. and Catherine Richard Tat Durio, born on February 3rd 1952, the first of their eight children. He joined Troops 30 and 31 of the Boy Scouts of America and was awarded the Eagle Scout badge in 1967. He received a Private Pilots license in 1969 and graduated in 1970 from the Academy of the Immaculate Conception, where he was a National Merit Semifinalist and received an appointment to the United States Air Force Academy.

In 1974 he graduated from the Air Force Academy with a Bachelors degree in Political Science and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. In 1975 he was recognized as the highest ranking graduating pilot or Top Gun in his flight school class at Craig Air Force Base in Selma, Alabama. From 1975 to 1977 he flew the McDonnel Douglas F4D patrolling the DMZ between North and South Korea. In 1977 he returned to the United States to join the first operational squadron to fly the A10 Warthog close ground support tankbuster from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Retiring from Active Duty to Reserve status in 1980, he joined the 926th Fighter Group based at the Naval Air Station in Belle Chase, Louisiana. In 1985 Greg began a civilian career as an airline pilot for Delta stationed in New Orleans.

Greg married Nanette Howard of Selma, Alabama on Jan. 28th, 1978. He was the father of Jennifer Ashley and Jamie Howard Durio.

In 1990, Greg was activated in connection with Operation Desert Storm, the first Iraq war and flew with the 706th Tactical Fighter Squadron. Despite his age and fatherhood, because of his unsurpassed experience in the A10, Greg was assigned to a front line unit flying the Warthog into Iraq from an undisclosed airbase in the Saudi Arabian Desert. For his service at the front he was awarded numerous air medals and citations that noted his many successful bombing and strafing missions including numerous enemy targets killed or destroyed.

Greg was an avid hunter and sportsmen from early high school at A.I.C., where he lettered in football. While at the Air Force Academy he was a member of the Lacrosse and shooting sport teams and was named the North American Intercollegiate 20ga Competition Shooting Champion in 1973. He bagged several Mule Deer in Colorado, hunted deer, ducks and turkey in Alabama, and deer ducks and geese in Louisiana, and became a successful bow hunter. He also became an enthusiastic NASCAR fan, travelling to many races with his son Jamie.

Greg was preceded in death by his brother Jeff and his parents Jim and Tat. He is survived by his wife Nan and children Jenny and Jamie, of Marietta Georgia, his brother Buzz and wife Rene, of Lafayette, brothers Rick and John of Carencro, sisters Cathy Chachere and Denise Carroll, and their respective husbands Donald Buzz Chachere and Jerry Carroll, of Opelousas, and brother Joseph of Baton Rouge, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

Greg was a member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and served briefly as Commander of Post 2681 of Marrietta, Georgia. He was an expert historian and artifact collector of the Civil War and a member of the Sons of the Confederacy.

Family and friends are invited to sign and view the online guestbook at www.lafondardoin.com.

LafondArdoin Funeral Home of Opelousas 2845 South Union Street, Opelousas, La. 70570, 337 9422638 has been entrusted with the funeral arrangements.

Visitation

Lafond Ardoin Funeral Home
2845 S. Union Street
Opelousas, LA  70570
Sunday, October 21, 2012
6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Service

Church

St. Landry Catholic Church
1020 North Main
Opelousas, LA  70570
Monday, October 22, 2012
9:00 a.m.

Cemetery

Cedar Hill Cemetery
715 West Vine Street
Washington, LA  70589