James St. Julien

[Ken]

James Robert St. Julien passed away Feb. 7, 2010 after a year long illness. Born in Lafayette, Louisiana on April 7, 1924. Jim was a WWII Vet, serving with the 332 Combat Engineers Regiment in Europe. He was attached to the 101st Airborne during the Battle of the Bulge. "Saint" learned to fly at an early age and obtained his pilot's license after the war. He worked for various crop dusting companies in LA and other southern states. He also worked for Delta Air Service (1950-1966), which was the forerunner to Delta Air Lines. Saint always liked to joke that he was among the few remaining Delta pilots "who had never carried a passenger".

Jim St. Julien worked as a professional photographer for the city of New Orleans and commercial pilot in general aviation. Saint loved to read and because of that he became an acknowledged expert on aviation and history, having consulted with the Smithsonian Museum on several occasions. Saint was fluent in French and had traveled to Europe several times to visit his ancestral home towns in France. Many people knew Saint because of the WWII Boeing Stearman biplane that he flew. He had a passion for Warbirds, especially the Stearman. It was only until his illness that he continued to fly his own plane.

Saint is survived by four children and countless friends and relatives. (I don't believe that Saint knew any enemies.)
Memorial services are to be held at Mallard's Landing Airpark.

Last edited by Ken on Mon Feb 22, 2010 10:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Sully]

Sorry to hear that.

My family treasures the hours spent around him.

Condolences to his family.

Sully

[Ken]

Saint was a rare individual. He was not a big man, maybe stood 5'6" and, at most, weighed 145 pounds. Everything else, though, was BIG: his heart, his smile, his gestures, his laugh, flying stories, his zest for life. For the past 7+ years he and a fellow WIXer met for dinner every Tuesday night at a local restaurant. Some nights the crowd would fill several tables, other times it was a handful, but if you were in town on a Tuesday night, you knew where to go at dinner time. He was wiry and full of energy - quick to smile or back-slap - always ready to hop up and hug any lady who entered the room. His voice held the vestiges of an accent only heard around Louisiana and he loved to talk - loved people - friends - children - social events - especially social events that centered on airplanes. He, like many folks who have spent a life around aircraft, couldn't hear worth a darn so any conversation had better be cranked up or you needed to be ready to repeat yourself. I always enjoyed seeing him in the pattern in that yellow Stearman - knowing that there was so much experience at the stick and hoping that I, too, might be lucky enough to still zip around in my own taildragger if I reach that age. He was always doing so well I think many of us just assumed he'd be around forever; the kind of guy who sees 102. In truth, there are so many others who knew him better, but my wife and I are proud to have called him a friend.

Blue skies, Saint! You will be missed but not forgotten.

Ken

[Ken]

Saint had a wonderful send-off yesterday. It's estimated that 200 friends and family came to share stories, laughter, and tears to honor our friend. There was a nice display of Saint's WWII decorations, various articles written about him over the years, and a video display that alternated between a photo slide show and video interviews Saint had done. His Stearman was parked outside, its arrival announced with a final burst of Saint's whimsical siren.

The service ended with a missing man fly-by with bagpipes. This was capped off with a trumpet playing of "When the Saints Go Marchin' In" - most appropriate for a fun-loving Cajun.

The 4-ship may be seen here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N3zE5i7C8sk

Lead: Jim Ratliff
#2 Pete Smart
#3 Larry Taylor (missing man)
#4 Cal Tax
Bagpipes by Bob Heath