RUNYAN, Lt. Colonel Jack Elmore

Mohave Daily News, Mohave Valley, AZ - Published in Mohave Daily News Online from June 24 to July 1, 2012 - Lt. Colonel Jack Elmore Runyan (US Air Force, ret.), age 94, a 26-year resident of Bullhead City, Ariz., passed away peacefully of natural causes supported by members of his family, on Sunday, June 3, 2012, in Redlands, Calif. Jack was born in Chicago, Ill. on April 7, 1918, to Lant A. and Leona (Hoopengarner) Runyan. He moved to a farm in southern Indiana, attended the University of Cincinnati, the Ohio Mechanical Institute in Louisville, and Butler University. During the Great Depression, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps until offered a job at US Steel. He hitchhiked to Gary, Ind. to begin work, until drafted into the U.S. Army. After his discharge, he earned his pilot's license at the Gary airport while working at the steel mill. Immediately after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Jack drove to Purdue University to enlist in the Army Air Corps and flew all types of planes, including a favorite, the B-17. He was stationed in North Africa, was in Paris when the war ended, and was at the German surrender at Casablanca in 1945. After the war, Jack flew for United Airlines before recalled to fly in the Berlin Airlift of 1948. He flew almost non-stop, carrying coal and supplies to keep Berlin open after the Soviets cut off the land routes. Stationed at Eglin Air Force Base in Florida, he flew drones and moved to Holloman AFB in New Mexico, site of atomic tests. He flew drones during the hydrogen bomb tests at Enewetok in the Pacific. He was stationed on Guam in the Mariana Islands, Columbus, Ohio, and at Westover AFB, Mass., where he was in the Strategic Air Command. He retired from the US Air Force in 1966, and moved to the family farm at Lawrenceport, Indiana, then to Fontana, Calif., and in 1985, to Bullhead City. Jack had a life-long love of automobiles beginning with his first car, a 1918 Ford Model T truck purchased for $5. This was followed by a Model A Coupe, and then a string of cars he bought, repaired, and sold as a hobby-and a source of income. He enjoyed fixing old radios and clocks, as well as cars. Jack possessed a wry sense of humor, and liked a dry martini and a good, thick steak! He was unpretentious and almost never spoke of his service in WW II, though he was awarded many ribbons and the Air Medal. He qualified early for the rating of Command Pilot – requiring more than 3,000 hours of flight time. Jack was preceded in death in December 2011, by his wife of 70 years, Mavis Lydia Lewis Runyan. He is survived by his two sons, Timothy (Laurie) of Greenville, N.C. and Gregory of Fontana, Calif.; daughter, Bonnie (Mike) Edmiston of Fontana; seven grandchildren; twelve great-grandchildren; and five great-great-granchildren. A service with military honors will be held at 10:00 p.m. on Friday, July 6, 2012, at the National Cemetery in Riverside, Calif.