- Date Of Birth: April 23, 1925
- Date Of Death: June 2, 2014
- State: Florida
Louise Odom
1925 – 2014
Louise Odom, 89, passed away quietly the early morning of 2 Jun at Fort Walton Beach Medical Center. She was born April 23, 1925 in Dallas, TX. After graduating high school, she married James Odom and eventually moved to Wichita, Kansas while assisting in a flying school. Meanwhile her husband went off to fight WWII. After the war, she became a devoted spouse and homemaker during the extent of her husband’s 31-year USAF career; participating in Spouse’s Clubs and local activities wherever stationed. That career would end when they retired in 1974 in the Fort Walton Beach area.
Shortly upon arrival here, both became very involved in the Optimist Club of Fort Walton Beach; eventually assuming leadership roles in the local area. Mrs. Odom eventually became the first woman Assistant Governor of North Florida from 1998-1999 while her husband was the Governor of the same area. An achievement she was sincerely proud of. As a result, she was in enshrined into the Florida Optimist Hall of Fame in 1999; all the while, doing what she could to help young people, her neighbors, and be a good companion to her husband.
She was preceded in death by her husband, Col. James Odom (R), brother, Jack, sister, Mary, and her only daughter, Sharon. She is survived by her niece, Gena Wellman, of Rockwall, TX, her grandchildren, Steven Wilkerson and Patricia Parker, of Miami, Florida, and James Wilkerson of Fort Walton Beach; as well as two great grandchildren, James Wilkerson II, of Fort Walton Beach, and Jonathan Parker, of Miami.
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