Lindsey B. Tart
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Lindsey B. Tart 8 June 2004 |
Lindsey B. Tart, 89, of Coats died June 8, 2004 at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, North Carolina.
The Harnett County, North Carolina native was the son of the late H.B. and Geneva M. Tart. He was preceded in death by a brother, Jack Tart.
Tart served in the Fifteenth Air Force in WWII. The Army Air Corps sent him to North Africa in 1942. Tart spent a lot of time in the Libyan desert, moving across Africa as the bases were moved.
He was transferred to the 464th Bombardment Group, during 1943. In 1944 Tart and the 464th Bomb Group were assigned to their new air base and relocated to Pantanella, Italy.
Although reluctant to change assignments, initially, Tart later told his family that he liked serving with the 464th BG "much better."
Tart liked to work with his hands and was a skilled woodcarver. He liked to make things, he carved a wooden knife from the same type of wood that was used to build the cross for Christ's crucifixion. He had obtained the wood during a visit to Jerusalem.
During Tart's service in the Libyan desert, he also constructed a ""diamond" ring from the plexiglas scavenged from a downed German fighter. He mailed the unique, handcrafted memento back home, to the girl he had been corresponding regularly with.
Upon receipt, said young lady took him "at his word" and accepted the one-of-a-kind "proposal" that the gift intimated. They later married and became the proud parents of two children. The couple enjoyed 60 years of marriage following Tart's service in Pantanella.
After all those years, the gift still makes a handsome necklace.
Survivors include Tart's wife, Hazel P. Tart; a son, Joseph L. Tart and wife Hannah, of Dunn; a daughter, Linda T. Thompson and husband Wayne, of Haltom City, Texas; sisters, Juanita T. Harris and Pearl T. Lumley, both of Raleigh, and Frances T. Matthews, of Coats; grandchildren, Lee T. Malone and Joseph L. Tart, Jr.; and a great-grandchild and namesake, Lindsey Malone.
Funeral services were held at the Skinner and Smith Funeral Home by Elders Calvin Harward and J.M. Mewborn, the Rev. Ronnie Byrd and Dr. Thomas Smith. Burial followed in Devotional Gardens.