Foil: 11 Panel: 3 Column: 1 Line: 89

Wall of Honor Level:
Air and Space Friend

Honored by:
William Keena

While most people sleepwalk through school and career, no real plan in hand, Johnny was an exception. He knew exactly what he wanted to do and was in a hurry to get to it.

For he had made a decision to dedicate his life to the goddess of flight.

I have come to learn through other pilots that his personality was well matched to that particular type once known for bravery, dashing, swagger and occasional recklessness. Were he present and of the right age in 1917 he might have joined up and become a knight of the air.
Like me, he seemed born after his time.

In high school he showed a sense of adventure, risk taking, humor and love of life that attracted people to him. When my family and I moved back to my old home town, some 15 years after my brother's passing, we would on occasion come across a classmate of his who would invariably remember Johnny. One woman came to my mother's door and explained that she was now an airline Captain at one of the large carriers and wanted to thank her for the son who inspired her to fly.

When he became an Army helicopter pilot he achieved his dream but when he wasn't flying at work he missed it. I think he missed the sheer love of the sky, of the power and peace that stand like brothers there. So he bought an airplane - a vintage and beautifully restored (New Ceconite Covering, fresh annual, updated upholstery) 1947 Aeronca Champ, just like the one Grandpa flew. He took it up every chance he got and shared with his family as often as he could. His greatest adventures were alone ("This thing isn't rated for aerobatics but it will do it") or with his Uncle ("We flew around the Statue of liberty"), but some of the most rewarding for all were with us, whether it was buzzing the house, dropping flowers from above to his wife or flying in to Old Rhinebeck Aerodrome to talk to Cole Palen, who showed respect for the old Champ "With the big tires".

Is it a tragedy that he died while flying? Certainly to those of us who miss his presence every day it is. But to my brother, who made it through so many risks that others could not have, it was the price exacted for the thrill of living in the sky.