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Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
Mr. Jeffrey Humphrey

John (Jack) E. Goslin lived life with his heart in the sky and his feet firmly on the ground. He participated in the American aviation experience in multiple roles … always seeking to explore flying and make the industry better.

Jack grew in a small town in the lower peninsula of Michigan called Gagetown. He was born on April 26, 1932.

Just barely out of his teens, Jack joined the Air Force and was in Korea for the Korean War.  It was there that he learned the trade that became the passion of his life:  being an air traffic controller.  He received his training at Keesler AFB, Mississippi.

Once Jack left the Air Force, he applied to the new Federal Aviation Administration to be a civilian air traffic controller. He was approved and sent to the FAA's training center in Oklahoma.

Jack’s first assignment in the late 1950’s was as an air traffic controller at Detroit’s City airport. His love of aviation also afforded him the opportunity to meet his wife of 47 years, Dorothy O’Connor. She worked as a secretary at an airplane parts supplier. True to form, Jack even proposed to her on one of the runways at City airport.

Jack spent a little over a year at Chicago’s O'Hare airport. At the time, Chicago was the busiest airport in the world. Only the best controllers were sent there, and Jack Goslin was one of them.

In 1963, Jack had the opportunity to bid for a promotion and transferred to Willow Run Airport in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

By 1964, Jack was one of the first controllers from Willow Run to transfer to the (then) new Detroit Metropolitan airport (DTW) located in Romulus, Michigan. He also obtained his pilot’s license.

Shortly after his promotion to supervisor, the air traffic controllers would strike in August, 1981. Jack worked overtime for years to fill in the gaps and train replacements and ultimately received a commendation signed by President Ronald Reagan.

Jack retired in 1984 at the age of 52 at a GS-17 government civilian rank.

Up until his death, Jack was a member of the Society of Airway Pioneers and regularly attended breakfasts and annual reunions with fellow air traffic controllers from across the United States. He took great pride in his profession and would regale friends and family with stories of his life as an air traffic controller.

John E Goslin passed away peacefully at his home in Harrison Township, Michigan at the age of 77. His final resting place is at a cemetery next to City airport on a hill overlooking the runway where nearly 50 years prior he proposed to his wife.

He is survived by his wife of 47 years, Dorothy, and three children: Jeff, Tim and Colleen.