Funeral services for Iowa Guardsman announced

From Press Release

 

Funeral services have been scheduled for Senior Airman Drew Bellairs, 20, of Osage. Bellairs, a member of the Maintenance Group, 185th Air Refueling Wing, Iowa Air National Guard based in Sioux City drowned while swimming at Marbo Cave, Mangilao, Guam, on Saturday, July 25. Bellairs was serving on temporary duty while assigned to the 506th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron at Andersen Air Force Base, Guam at the time of the accident.

Funeral service for Senior Airman Bellairs will be held at 10 a.m. on Thursday, Aug. 6 at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, 833 Ash St., Osage. The family will greet relatives and friends at the church immediately following the funeral. Interment will be held at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Minneapolis, MN. at a later date. In lieu of flowers, memorials may be directed to the Drew Bellairs Memorial Fund for the family’s designation to various charities and organizations.

Drew Bellairs was born in Greeneville, SC, on April 28, 1995, and graduated from Osage High School in 2013, where he participated in chorus, band, cross country, basketball and golf. Bellairs was a student at Iowa State University, majoring in Criminal Justice and was active in the ISU Flying and Skiing Clubs.

He enlisted in the 185th Air Refueling Wing, Iowa Air National Guard in July 2012 as an Aerospace Maintenance Journeyman. Following graduation from Air Force Basic Training at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, Bellairs attended the Aerospace Maintenance Apprentice course. He was an aircraft mechanic and was currently assigned as a crew chief for KC-135R refueling aircraft. Bellairs had previously deployed to Japan for typhoon response. His awards include the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, Air Reserve Forces Meritorious Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal and the Nuclear Deterrence Operations Service Medal.

Bellairs is survived by his father and mother, David and Beth Bellairs of Osage; sisters, Jenny Bellairs of Pensacola, Fla. and Natalie Bellairs of Osage; brother, Sam Bellairs of Osage; maternal grandparents, Ray and Marge Huftalin of Osage; and paternal grandmother, Dolores Bellairs of Clarinda. He was preceded in death by his paternal grandfather, Dale Bellairs.

Funeral arrangements are being handled by Champion-Bucheit Funeral Home. Information and condolences accepted at www.champion-bucheitfuneralhome.com or call (641) 732-3706.