Pat Hume, the Fortine veteran who was honored last month by France with the Legion of Honour, died at 10:26 a.m. Tuesday morning in hospice care surrounded by family.

The 99-year old World War II veteran earned the prestigious medal from the government of France for flying 66 sorties as a gunner in a Douglas A-20 Havoc bomber in the skies over occupied France. His story was featured on the front page of the March 29 Inter Lake.

Hume’s daughter, Karon Stiles, said her father “was up in a better place with mom and my son.”

Hume was presented the Legion of Honour on March 22 by France’s honorary consul to Montana Laurence Markarian, a French businesswoman in Hamilton.

Hume, who was born in Alberta, Canda, served in the U.S. Army Air Forces and was bestowed the honor of American citizenship for his service. His plane, the “Joker” was shot down on Dec. 2, 1944, and the members of his crew bailed out before it crash-landed in a field in France.

Hume graduated from Flathead County High School in Kalispell and became an important figure in the Eureka Veterans of Foreign Wars post.