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James E. Emswiler - WWII Pilot

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James E. Emswiler - WWII Pilot

Posted: 8 May 2015 6:49PM GMT
Classification: Obituary
Edited: 8 May 2015 6:55PM GMT
James E. Emswiler, of Bluffton, SC, died on November 28, 2014.

He was born August 16, 1920, in Elkhart, Indiana, son of Henry and Hazel Emswiler.
At age one the family moved to the home of his father in Columbus, Ohio. He lived there until moving to Hilton Head with his wife Vicki and daughter Cathy in 1985 and then to Bluffton in 2001.
Jim attended the University of Chicago for 2 years, becoming a member of Delta Upsilon fraternity.
Later he received a BA and MA from Ohio State University, graduating Cum Laude.
In 1943 he married Violet (Vicki) Kathleen Eddy after returning from a tour of duty as a P38 reconnaissance pilot in Algeria and Tunisia. Jim and Vicki were married for 63 years until her death from cancer in 2006.
They spent a year in Oklahoma City where Jim was stationed at Will Rogers Field.
A 2nd tour of duty took him to Bari, Italy, where he remained until the end of the war in Europe. He served as Operations Officers of the 15th Photo Reconnaissance Squadron and flew 56 missions over Central Europe.
One of these was the 1st flight over Berlin made from an Italian base during the war, made on Jim's own initiative. He was awarded the Silver Star, 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 11 Air Medals, plus other war service medals.
Discharged as a major, he spent 2 years as C.O. of the Ohio Air National Guard, flying P51s after the war.
He was president of the Emswiler Electric Co. and the Lincoln Philatelic Co. in Columbus.
He also served as president of the Northeast Optimist and Columbus Philatelic Clubs.

A son, Jim was killed at age 22 in a car accident in California while in the Navy during the Vietnam War.

A second son, Thomas, graduated from Ohio State with a law degree, became a LTC in the Army and served at NATO in Belgium and six years at the Pentagon.
He later became the General Counsel of the Federal Retirement Investment Board in Washington.
He is married to Susan and has two children, Philip and Tanya; daughter, Cathy, graduated from Miami University and lives in Bluffton, SC with her husband, David Stokes and their daughter, Victoria.

Funeral service will be at 11 a.m., May 16, 2015 at Union Cemetery, 3349 Olentangy River Road, Columbus, Ohio 43202. (Franklin County)

Memorial donations to Honor Flight, Columbus, Ohio.


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Published in The Columbus Dispatch on May 10, 2015
- See more at: http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dispatch/obituary.aspx?n=ja...

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