John Bellefontaine, of Leesburg, was true American hero who passed on Memorial Day weekend at the age of 98.
John was born in Montreal, Canada, and became at Citizen and joined the Army in 1943. He was assigned to 551st Parachute Infantry Battalion at Camp Mackall, NC and then deployed to Europe on a Liberty Ship named the USS Abraham Lincoln to Italy and then into France. After training in Sicily he was sent to Rome for preparation to Invade Southern France and then into the Maritime Alps. After three months of heavy artillery John was assigned to 82nd Airborne to fight in the Battle of the Bulge.
John served 20 years in the Army and received the WWII Victory medal and the Bronze Star of Valor and the Presidential Unit Citation among many other medals and was waiting to receive the Legion of Honor medal from France before he passed away. After retiring from the Army John worked Civil Service and was promoted to GS-13 where he was in Electronic Communications. A true Hero who passed on Memorial Day weekend. John is survived by his wife Patricia and his three children Yannick, Steve and Deborah and Stepdaughter Anne Marie. His ten Grandchildren and nine Great Grandchildren.
Funeral Services will be held on June 23rd at Allen J Harden funeral home at 10am in Mount Dora proceeding burial with honors at Bushnell National Cemetery at 2pm. Open to the public. Our Hero will be missed.
