Adam Philip Ohl

Lt. Col. ADAM PHILLIP OHL, JR. USAF (Retired) FLORENCE, SC Lt. Col. Adam Phil Ohl, Jr. USAF (Retired), passed away Friday, June 28, 2013 at the age of 93 in Morrell Memorial Nursing and Rehab Center in Hartsville, SC after an illness. He was born in Detroit, Michigan on November 16, 1919 a son of the late Adam Phillip Ohl, Sr and Grace Hobbs Ohl.Col. Ohl attended college at the University of Maryland, the University of California and the University of South Carolina (Go Gamecocks) where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree.In December of 1941, immediately following the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, Col. Ohl was called to active duty and entered the US Army Air Corps as a private at Ft. Dix, New Jersey and 23 years later in December of 1964, retired from the US Air Force as a Lt. Colonel having served his country well flying 60 combat missions in bombers dropping bombs all over N. Africa and Europe in 1943 and 1944.He earned a flock of air medals, service ribbons, commendations and awards too numerous to list from World War II, Korea and the Cold War.Col. Ohl commanded a Radar Detachment on an island off the southern tip of S. Korea during the Korean War.Additionally, his training and background in atomic bombs was quite extensive at the National Stockpile site at Monzano Base, Albuquerque, NM where he commanded the first above ground thermonuclear weapons assembly plant.Col. Ohl was also one of a few officers of triple threat ability as a pilot, bomardier and navigator having graduated from all three flight schools.Subsequent to retiring from the Air Force, he worked for the Social Security Administration for 27 years as a claims rep. and supervisor in Nashville, TN, Columbia, Sumter and Florence, SC, retiring again in 1991.Further employment was with Friedman’s Jewelers and the Senior Citizens Assn. of Florence Co., SC retiring completely on January 1, 2006.He was a member of Calvary Baptist Church, the Florence Country Club, DAV, lifetime member of the VFW and the Retired Officers Assn., WWII Memorial and the Korean War Memorial in Washington, DC.He was a loyal Gamecocks fan and Atlanta Braves fan.Col. Ohl was a true gentleman to his wife, Doris, and up until the decline of his wife’s health, he was an avid golfer. He was preceded in death by his parents; the love of his life, his wife, Doris DeWitt Ohl who passed away on December 28, 2012; son, Bruce LaRue DeWitt, who passed away July 9, 2010; grandson, Gary Lowder, Jr., who passed away June 6, 2002 and by a twin brother, John “Jack” Ohl. Surviving are his loving daughters, Kathy DeWitt (Jack) Belew, Debbie DeWitt Lowder, Sonya DeWitt Smith and Teresa DeWitt (Bill) Dullaghan, all of Florence; grandsons, Mark DeWitt of Florence, Chad (Lisa) DeWitt of Park City, KS, Dr. E. Scott Smith of New Orleans, LA, Dr. Jason (Katie) Smith of Dublin, CA, Lance Dullaghan and Tim (Janet) Belew, both of Florence; great-grandchildren, Aubrey M. DeWitt, Tyler Belew and Carter Dullaghan, all of Florence, Lindsay M. DeWitt, Cheyenne Weatherington and Trenton Weatherington, all of Park City, KS and two nephews, John and Glen Ohl. Memorials may be made to Calvary Baptist Church, 915 Cherokee Road, Florence, SC29501, the McLeod Hospice House, PO Box 100551, Florence, SC29502, www.mcleodfoundation.org. or to a military foundation of your choice. Funeral services will be held at 12:00 Noon Tuesday, July 2, 2013 in the Stoudenmire-Dowling Funeral Home chapel.Burial will follow in the Florence National Cemetery with full military honors. The family will receive friends from 11:00 AM – 12:00 Noon at the funeral home prior to the service and other times at 2510 Kingston Drive, Florence. The family wishes to send a special thank you to Cheri Truluck, Director of Nursing, and the staff at Morrell Memorial Nursing and Rehab Center in Hartsville for their loving care and kindness that they gave to Mr. Ohl (who they all affectionately called “Uncle Phil”) and his family.