This is a Message Board Post that is gatewayed to this mailing list. Surnames: Estes, Proffer, Williams Classification: Obituary Message Board URL: http://boards.ancestry.com/mbexec/msg/rw/AW.2ADE/988 Message Board Post: Estes Proffer; retired colonel, community college professor By Jack Williams UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER December 18, 2004 Two careers weren't enough for Estes Proffer. Not at age 70. Not when the retired Army lieutenant colonel and community college professor had just qualified for law school. "He was very surprised to be accepted," said his son William. "It was probably the crowning triumph of his life." But before Mr. Proffer could enroll at Southwestern School of Law in Los Angeles, he underwent a second triple bypass surgery. With his fragile health, he was unable to attend and fulfill a longtime dream. After more than 25 years in the Army and two decades of teaching business administration, he already had enough memories for a lifetime. And some of the the most vivid were of commanding coastal defense units in San Diego during World War II after the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Mr. Proffer died of congestive heart failure Nov. 13 at Redwood Terrace, a retirement community in Escondido where he had lived for the past four years. He was 92. The son of a lawyer who lost all his investments in the stock-market crash, Mr. Proffer had few career options as a young man in the Depression. So he joined the Missouri National Guard. On Dec. 7, 1941, when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Mr. Proffer was working for the Coca-Cola Bottling Co. in Kennett, Mo. Activated with his National Guard unit, he was assigned to San Diego, where fears of an invasion were rampant and camouflage covers over buildings and nightly blackouts became routine. "He used to tell of how he and his men stumbled over sleeping seals while guarding the beaches along Torrey Pines on dark, moonless nights," his son said. "His unit included a couple of rather decrepit World War I surplus tanks and some utility vehicles. "On one exercise, they managed to park a tank at each end of the Coronado ferry. Upon arriving at Coronado landing, they couldn't get either tank started." At the end of the war, Mr. Proffer was sent to Kyoto, Japan, to serve as head of a military and government affairs team that aided the Japanese in implementing a political system. When the Korean War broke out, he took part as an infantry commander in some of the early skirmishes. While leading his battalion up a hill, he was shot in the thumb. The wound required hospitalization and resulted in a Purple Heart. Mr. Proffer resumed his education in the Army, earning a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Alaska in 1958. He retired in 1961 and earned a master's in 1962 at UCLA, preparing him for a teaching career. But as much as he enjoyed teaching – at Barstow College, East Los Angeles College and Pierce College – Mr. Proffer always thought about being a lawyer. "He told me all the time he wanted to open a law office," his son said, "but he was a natural teacher, and a great mentor to me." By reading law books and tracking cases, Mr. Proffer felt he was well-prepared at 70 to keep up with generations of younger law students. "He was very disappointed when he couldn't go to law school," his son said. Until failing health forced him into an assisted-living environment, Mr. Proffer made the most of retirement. "He continued his love of learning, traveled and enjoyed gardening," his son said. Mr. Proffer, a native of Cotton Plant, Ark., lived in Thousand Oaks before moving to Escondido to be close to his son William and grandson Quinn. In addition to William and Quinn he is survived by David, a son in Los Angeles. Services are pending at Fort Rosecrans National Cemetery. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jack Williams: (619) 542-4587; jack.williams@uniontrib.com Find this article at: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/obituaries/20041218-9999-1m18proffer.html SAVE THIS | EMAIL THIS | Close Check the box to include the list of links referenced in the article.