Chaplain Lieutenant Colonel Vasten E. 'Bud' Zumwalt, USAF (retired), age 85, of Ponder, Texas went to be with his Lord, June 23, 2014. He was born February 4, 1929 on the family farm outside Leachville, Arkansas to Alvah Daniel Zumwalt and Bertha Harden Zumwalt. He was preceded in death by his wife Betty Overfelt Zumwalt, his two brothers, Deward Zumwalt and George Zumwalt, and three sisters, Clois Wells , Myrtle Culp, and Roine Phillips.

Bud Zumwalt joined the Army in 1946 at the end of World War II when he was 17 and a half. After service in Alaska he attended Arkansas State College on the G.I. Bill and the University of Missouri where he became a Christian and met Betty. They married and attended the Southern Baptist Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky where their son Jerry and daughter Jennie were born. Bud had remained in the active Army reserves through college and after serving two small churches in Missouri he joined the U.S. Air Force as a chaplain endorsed by the Southern Baptist Convention.

Bud and family went on their first assignment to Kessler AFB in Biloxi, Mississippi where their youngest son John was born. The family rotated to Alconbury RAFB in England (landing the day Winston Churchill died) then on to Kirkland AFB in Albuquerque. Bud volunteered to serve in Southeast Asia and was posted to Korat AB Thailand supporting the air war in Vietnam. Next came Oklahoma, Washington State, New Hampshire, the island nation of Taiwan, Sacramento, the Greek Island of Crete, and England AFB in Alexandria, Louisiana where Bud served as the supervising Base Chaplain and where he retired in 1986 after 31 years of military service. They lived in a total of 42 houses.

Bud's ministry as a Chaplain included preaching and counseling with special attention to Sunday School programs and sponsoring the program known as Protestant Women of the Chapel on most bases. He often administered Chapel funds for various charitable works by and for service members, their families and people in the local communities. During his ministry, he performed 101 funerals and 372 weddings.

After retiring, Bud and Betty lived in Sunsites outside Wilcox, Arizona where Bud pastored a non-denominational community church; then in Colorado Springs; and in Las Vegas where they founded a Baptist church in Sun City who honored them as founding pastor and spouse after ten years of operation and still growing. They also lived near Jennie in Bakersfield, CA and near John in Reno, NV before moving to Ponder, Texas to be near Jerry, Theresa and grandson Noah. Bud was an active member of Ponder United Methodist Church supply preaching, teaching Sunday School and serving on various committees from 2001 until his death.

He is survived by one sister, Imogene Roberts; three children, Jerry Zumwalt, Jennie Garner, and John Zumwalt; five grandchildren, Christie Staloch, John Garner, Andrew Zumwalt, Kaitlyn Zumwalt, and Noah Zumwalt; and great grandchildren, Felicity Staloch, Violet Staloch, Oliver Staloch, Silas Garner, and many nieces and nephews. A private ceremony will be held with family.

Bud liked traveling more than farming, but his heart was always with the people from small town America and his ministry made them feel at home even though they were serving their country all around the world.