George Austin Pace

  It was a time of happiness in the quiet town of Mt. Carmel Alabama when George Austin Pace was born.  He had three sisters Tammi, Brenda and Judy and four brothers, Woodrow, James, Buddy and Terry. His Mother Vissie and his Father Melton.  As a child he was nicknamed “Buster”.  Through the years of his childhood he went to school and worked in the cotton fields after school.  I was told several times how hard life was growing up.  He mentioned to me of the long walks to school and the times they were all fed food no one would desire to eat in these days we live today. Buster was a boxer and boxed for competitions.  Buster described his favorite automobile as a 1955-1960 convertible red Corvette.  He said back in the day in Boothville Louisiana he would race others and no one could out race him.  He was a shrimper and an avid fisherman of  the swamp marshes of Venice Louisiana.  He was deployed to the U.S. Army, where he was stationed in New Orleans and lived there for a short time.  His family ended up moving to Lake Providence where he met Marilyn Yee Pace, his current wife until his passing.   Buster met Marilyn at the Roller Skating Rink in Lake Providence. He started to date her and was deployed in the Army during the Vietnam War in 1966-1968. During the time of combat he suffered from scrap metal injuries and was shot in the head.  He had some difficult times in Vietnam.   He returned back to the U.S. with a Purple Heart Award. Some stories remain with him in his soul.  After the Military Buster worked at El Paso Products. He moved to Shreveport in 1971 and worked at GE and then Moffitt Volkswagen.  He coached baseball and softball.  Ages were young and old. Buster’s hobbies included: fishing, farming, working on broken down vehicles, and he loved traveling.   Buster was the man who would help anyone and he did not expect a reward or a return of the favor.  His heart was huge and loved everyone.  Not many would say he was not missed or loved.  He later escorted oversized loads and enjoyed traveling.  He went to Hawaii and sailed on a cruise ship to the gulf and explored many cities. Although he faced bad health issues with cancer two times, he survived.  The cancer he dealt with was throat and prostate cancer.  It did not prevent him from working in the field, gardening, farming and taking care of the chores.  He was a hard-working man. Then Buster was infected with the COVID-19 virus, which hospitalized him for a short time and was not able to fight hard enough.  He passed away in the COVID unit of the Veterans Hospital located in Shreveport on 09/04/2020.  During this time his wife was also experiencing sickness related to COVID-19. She was released out of a different hospital and learned he passed a day later.   At this particular time no visits were allowed to either party.  Family members were not able to see them at all. 

 Buster leaves behind his loving wife Marilyn Pace of 53 years, daughter Sandra Lux and her husband Jeff Lux, son Gary A. Pace and girlfriend Andrea Mcdade;  two Grandchildren, Ashley and Haley and three grandchildren Shaun, Lexie and Gauge.  He was preceded in death by his oldest grandson Austin Pace from a motorcycle accident in 2017.