Joseph Ralph Aldendifer
1916 - 2002 (86 years)
Generation: 1
1. Joseph Ralph Aldendifer was born on 17 May 1916 in Boyne City, Charleviox County, Michigan; died on 8 Nov 2002 in Rancho Mirage, Riverside County, California; was buried in Old Union Cemetery, Lincoln, Logan County, Illinois. Other Events:
- Occupation: pilot
- _MILT: World War II. US Army Air Force. Pilot
- Census: 1950, Denver, Denver County, Colorado
Notes:
Mr. Aldendifer died Nov. 8, 2002, in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
He had been a military and commercial pilot and president of the Mount Pulaski Telephone and Electric Company.
He was born May 17, 1916, to Joseph R. and Marguerite C. Aldendifer.
He attended Central School in Lincoln; St. John's Military Academy in Delafield, Wis.; and Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colo., where he was in the class of 1939.
In 1940 he applied for flight training with the U.S. Army Air Corps and began his training at Lindbergh Field, San Diego, Calif., with the Ryan School of Aeronautics. He completed flight training at Kelley Field, Texas, with the class of 1941.
He was assigned to the 95th Bomber Group of the 8th Air Force at Harham, Suffolk, England. He served as command pilot of a B-17 squadron and in that capacity was award the Distinguished Flying Cross in June 1945.
Later in 1945, following his discharge, he began his commercial flying career with Continental Airlines. He retired from the airline in 1976.
Soon thereafter he returned to Lincoln and assumed the role of president of the Mount Pulaski Telephone and Electric Company. He held that position until 1991, when the company was sold to the Rochester Telephone Company.
Memorials may be made to the Wayne J. Schall Hospice of Lincoln.
Joseph Aldendifer
Joseph Ralph Aldendifer, 986, of Lincoln, Ill., and Rancho Mirage died Nov. 8, 2002, in Rancho Mirage.
He was born May 17, 1916, to Joseph R. and Marguerite Collins Aldendifer in Boyne City, Mich. He married Cynthia Clow on Feb 2, 1967, in Las Vegas.
He was a pilot with Continental Airlines for 31 years and president of Mount Pulaski Telephone Co. for 30 years. He served in the Army Air Corps from 1941 to 1946.
He was a member of Thunderbird and The Springs country clubs in Rancho Mirage and the Lincoln Elks Club in Lincoln, Ill.
He is survived by his wife, Cynthia of Lincoln, Ill., and Rancho Mirage; three sons, Joseph R. of Corona, James of South Bend, Ind., and Curtis E. of Honolulu; his sister Marianne Tucker of Naples, Fla.; his brother James C. of Lincoln, Ill.; and several grandchildren.
Services will be private with inurnment at Union Cemetery, Lincoln, Ill., under the direction of Palm Spring Mortuary of Cathedral City.
The family suggests donation be made to the American Cancer Society or a charity of choice.
The Desert Sun, Palm Springs, California. Monday, 11 November 2002.
Name:
son of Joseph Ralph Aldendifer and Marguerite COllins
Buried:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/44528099/joseph-aldendiferJoseph married Virginia Wight Hedges on 29 Jan 1944 in Oak Park, Cook County, Illinois, and was divorced before 1967. Virginia (daughter of Bertram Atkinson Hedges and Edith Marian Wight) was born on 29 Jul 1922 in Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas; died on 11 Feb 2010 in Wichita, Sadgwick County, Kansas. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]