To request a copy of this photo for your own personal use, please contact our state coordinator. If you are not a family member or the original photographer — please refrain from copying or distributing this photo to other websites.
Thank you for visiting the Louisiana Gravestone Photo Project. On this site you can upload gravestone photos, locate ancestors and perform genealogy research. If you have a relative buried in Louisiana, we encourage you to upload a digital image using our Submit a Photo page. Contributing to this genealogy archive helps family historians and genealogy researchers locate their relatives and complete their family tree.
Submitted: 10/20/22 • Approved: 10/24/22 • Last Updated: 10/27/22 • R394498-G0-S3
March 29, 1927 - December 26, 2019
A visitation for Watson “Mack” McCreary, Jr., 92, will be held from 5:00 until 7:00 p.m. on Friday, January 3, at Osborn Funeral Home. Funeral services will begin at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 4, in the Chapel of Osborn. Officiating will be Brother J. Paul Silvey. Interment will follow at Forest Park East Cemetery. Mack was born on March 29, 1927, in Parker, TX and passed away on Thursday, December 26, 2019, in Shreveport, LA. He was a member of the Lucas Baptist Church, Lucas, TX, where his mother wished his membership to remain.
Mack was a life member of the VFW, Grady-Brown post 4588 Bossier City, LA and also a member of the American Legion, Lowe McFarlane Post 14 on Cross Lake in Shreveport, LA. He was a Master Mason in the Masonic Atkins Lodge No. 266 Taylor Town, LA. He was a member of Shelby County Shooters, in Center, TX and a past member of the Corrosion Engineers in Shreveport, LA. Since around 1954 he has been a Life Member of the National Rifle Association of America which he strongly believed in. He was also a member of the Boy Scouts of America for 56 years. He was a Scoutmaster in McKinney, TX and in Chelsea, MI. In Shreveport he was a Scoutmaster of Troop 59, Scout Hut located on the school grounds of Caddo Heights Elementary School and sponsored by The American Legion Post 14 Lowe-McFarlane on Cross Lake. The Norwella Council of Scouting in Shreveport awarded Mack with a Silver Beaver award around 1971.
Mack was retired in 1985 as Chief Maintenance and Operations from the V.A. Medical Center in Shreveport, LA. He had a 37-year career with the V.A. working at McKinney, TX as Chief Buildings and Grounds until it closed in 1965 and he was transferred to Ann Arbor, MI as Chief of Maintenance. During his 37-year V.A. career he worked for 23 different Chief Engineer Officers at three different hospitals and received 24 yearly outstanding or sustained Superior awards from 17 different V.A. Chief Engineers and most were with cash awards. In 1973, Mack was selected to receive the Department Award for Supervisory Excellence in the Incentive Awards Program. He was selected by the Washington D.C. Chief Medical Director over all 176 V.A. hospitals in the nation. Prior to his V.A. career he worked for the Internal Revenue in Dallas, TX.
Mack joined the Navy during World War II while he was still in High School in Plano, TX. After graduation while in the Navy he served in the Asiatic Pacific Area and China. He operated a VP 40-man amphibious boats as a 3rd class Boatswain Mate. On Okinawa the boat could not be backed from the Beach to return to his ship after unloading Marines and he then became a Marine for 37 days until the Navy picked him up. During the Korean Conflict he was a Staff Sergeant in the 443 Communication Squadron in charge of crypto, radio, teletype, and telephone at Donaldson Air Force Base in Greenville, SC. His military service ribbons include: American Defense Service, Asiatic Pacific Area, World War II Victory, China Service, and Navy Good Conduct. After his discharge from the Air Force he attended night school and graduated from Collin County Vocational School in McKinney, TX.
While working at the V.A. Hospital in McKinney, TX he met and married, Janelle Cole, of Jacksonville, TX, who was a V.A. Dietitian. They had two sons, Charles Wayne McCreary, Sr. (2012) who was a State Farm Agent and Michael Glenn McCreary, Sr. (1998) who was a Sergeant on the Plano, TX Police Department, both preceded him in death. He was also preceded in death by his parents, Watson “Jack” and Clara Edith McCreary, of Parker, TX; and granddaughter, Rebecca McCreary, of Shreveport, LA.
He is survived by his loving wife of 69 years, Jan; daughter-in-law, (Charles’ widow) Sherrill and their two children, Charles Wayne McCreary, Jr. and Elisabeth McCreary, all of Shreveport, LA; daughter-in-law, (Michael’s widow) Debbie Hastings, of Plano, TX and their two children, Michael Glenn McCreary, Jr. and wife, Emma, McKinney, TX and Jennifer Nicole Childress and husband, Josh, all of The Colony, TX; great grandchildren, Jordan Elizabeth, Michael Glenn, III and baby Atticus; and a host of cousins. His family was very, very dear to him.
Mack was an avid hunter and fisherman and grew a large variety of vegetables. He liked traveling and sight-seeing. He also liked flying and obtained his pilot’s license in 1953, but soon gave it up. He played golf for many years and loved working with boys in the Boy Scouts. He often said he was still a “boy in the body of an old man”. He was one who loved the outdoors and backwoods.
Pallbearers will be Willie Edwards, Ronnie Stone, John Witham, and Craig Hendricks. Honorary pallbearers Dr. Tom Mosby, Billy Puckett, King Vidler, Bobby Craft, Richard Pridgen, and Johnny Pridgen.
The family would like to express their sincere appreciation to Dr. Rajan Kahanna and the Christus Highland Hospital nurses and staff.
Flowers may be sent to the funeral home and memorials may be made to the Boy Scouts of America, Norwela Council, 3508 Beverly Place, Shreveport, LA 71104 or First Baptist Church, 100 Connell Ferry Road, Joaquin, TX 75954.
“I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live, and whoever lives and believes in me shall never die.” (John 11:25-26)
Mack believed “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” (Colossians 3:23) He was a consummate “Southern Gentleman”, whose word and handshake were his bond.
Contributed on 10/20/22 by debbraszymanski
Email This Contributor
Suggest a Correction
Record #: 394498