Wilbur Dean Dice, 80, of Warrensburg, Missouri passed away Tuesday, November 25, 2014, at Saint Luke's Hospice House in Kansas City, Missouri. He was born November 23, 1934, in DeKalb County, Missouri, the sixth child of William Elmer and Bertha Morris Dice. Wilbur attended schools in the Summit community, graduated from Cameron High School in 1952, and furthered his education at Northwest Missouri State University, University of Maryland and Ricker College.
Prior to joining the Air Force, he was employed at the O.K. Service Station in Cameron, the Ford Motor Company in Claycomo, and the General Motors Plant in Kansas City, Kansas. Wilbur served six years as a Nuclear Weapons Technician Enlisted Man and 18 years as Maintenance and Inspection Officer. In 1959, during his first overseas tour in the Matador Missile Wing, he met and married Inge Hoffmann of Rengsdorf, Germany. In their second overseas tour, they were stationed on a French Air Force base in the Black Forest area of Germany. During an assignment in Albuquerque, New Mexico,
Wilbur had duty as the Air Force Representative to the Joint Atomic Weapons Publication System. He also had duties as the Logistics Command Representative to the Air Force Nuclear Weapons System Safety Group and the Air Force Nuclear Reactor Systems Safety Group. In 1966, he was selected to be a member of an ad hoc committee appointed by the Secretary of the Air Force to study the safety of the Minuteman Missile System. Wilbur spent the next five years in Asia in 5th, 13th, and 7th Air Forces as an Explosive Ordnance Disposal Officer and Deputy Director for Munitions. He spent the next five years as an inspector for the Air Force Inspector General and the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations. In his last assignment he was the Commander of the Munitions Squadron in Grand Forks, North Dakota.
After retirement, Wilbur and Inge spent most of their time gardening, traveling and playing bridge. Wilbur was a lifetime member of the Military Officers Association of America. In 1989, he became a charter member of the Martin Warren Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution, was president and later secretary for over 20 years.