Obituaries

Gerald Woodward
B: 1946-07-09
D: 2024-03-16
View Details
Woodward, Gerald
Darryl Gaines
B: 1965-01-08
D: 2024-03-03
View Details
Gaines, Darryl
Thomas Burke
D: 2024-02-29
View Details
Burke, Thomas
Ann Wurtz
B: 1934-08-26
D: 2024-02-28
View Details
Wurtz, Ann
Carlton Hahn
B: 1941-03-16
D: 2024-02-24
View Details
Hahn, Carlton
Dorothy Fryman
B: 1927-02-10
D: 2024-02-23
View Details
Fryman, Dorothy
Dorothy Fryman
B: 1927-02-10
D: 2024-02-23
View Details
Fryman, Dorothy
Janice Maupin
B: 1956-10-17
D: 2024-02-22
View Details
Maupin, Janice
Richard Brown
B: 1955-07-17
D: 2024-02-20
View Details
Brown, Richard
William Queen
B: 1942-08-06
D: 2024-02-15
View Details
Queen, William
Paul Cezair
B: 1943-07-23
D: 2024-02-09
View Details
Cezair, Paul
Truman Driggers
B: 1944-09-07
D: 2024-02-08
View Details
Driggers, Truman
Vincent Lucchesi
B: 1945-05-08
D: 2024-02-08
View Details
Lucchesi, Vincent
John Powell
B: 1968-01-01
D: 2024-02-03
View Details
Powell, John
Howard Smith
D: 2024-01-28
View Details
Smith, Howard
Diane Dunn
B: 1943-09-19
D: 2024-01-28
View Details
Dunn, Diane
Biagio Emanuelo
B: 1936-01-16
D: 2024-01-21
View Details
Emanuelo, Biagio
Timothy O'Keeffe
B: 1937-02-16
D: 2024-01-19
View Details
O'Keeffe, Timothy
Timothy O'Keeffe
B: 1937-02-16
D: 2024-01-19
View Details
O'Keeffe, Timothy
John Brown
B: 1935-06-04
D: 2024-01-16
View Details
Brown, John
Mark Bittner
B: 1975-07-04
D: 2024-01-16
View Details
Bittner, Mark

Search

Use the form above to find your loved one. You can search using the name of your loved one, or any family name for current or past services entrusted to our firm.

Click here to view all obituaries
Search Obituaries
167 Ridgewood Avenue
Holly Hill, FL 32117
Phone: (386) 253-7601
Fax: (386) 253-7647

The Memorial Candle Program has been designed to help offset the costs associated with the hosting this Tribute Website in perpetuity. Through the lighting of a memorial candle, your thoughtful gesture will be recorded in the Book of Memories and the proceeds will go directly towards helping ensure that the family and friends of John Mendes can continue to memorialize, re-visit, interact with each other and enhance this tribute for future generations.

Thank you.

Cancel
Select Candle

Obituary for John F Mendes

John F  Mendes
JOHN F. MENDES
Captain John F Mendes passed away Tuesday, February 6th, 2018, at his home in Port Orange, FL, after a long battle with heart disease.
John was born on September 7, 1928 in Scranton, PA. to Adriano and Maria (Conceicao) Mendes, who had emigrated from Portugal around 1923. After his father, Adriano died in 1931 in a coal mining accident, John and his two brothers were raised by Maria, who ran a boarding house in Scranton.
With the guidance of his godfather, John discovered his love of flying, which would last throughout his life, in 1944 when he attended The Casey Jones School of Aeronautics and became an aircraft engine mechanic. At the age of 17 he went to work at Rome Air Force Base in Rome, NY where he tore down and rebuilt military aircraft engines. It was also there that he started to learn to fly. In 1945 John joined the U.S. Army Air Corps and was trained as a vehicle mechanic. Following his Honorable Discharge in 1947, he moved to Wharton, NJ, where he worked as an airplane mechanic and took flying lessons the rest of the war. He attended aviation school on the G.I. Bill and received his Aircraft and Engine Mechanic license from the FAA in 1948.
In 1948 John met Dorothy Deighan at a dance in Parsippany, NJ. They were married on September 24th 1949, in 2017 they celebrated 68 years of marriage. John and Dorothy had three sons, John Jr. (Jack), Tom and Andy.
That year, at the age of 21, John received his private pilot’s license, and three years later his commercial pilot’s license. In 1953 John began working as a pilot and mechanic for the Flying Tiger Line, after which he moved to Johnson & Johnson Company, then for Paul Tishman Construction, where he took many flights to the Caribbean, including Cuba where he helped to evacuate the local Tishman corporate management as Fidel Castro took over the country.
In 1963, John joined the insurance company, that would eventually become American International Group (AIG). Starting out as one of only two pilots, for the next 31 years he would stay with AIG, becoming their Chief Pilot around 1975, and in 1988 their Director of Aviation (at the time pilots could not fly commercially after the age of 60). He retired from AIG in 1994, and moved with Dorothy to Spruce Creek Fly In community, in Port Orange, FL, where they have resided ever since.
John continued to fly throughout the rest of his life, he rebuilt planes from wrecks, including a Cessna 170 and Piper Apache twin. He also owned a Beech Baron 55, and a Beech Baron 58P N4004S, which he maintained with loving care and flew for almost 20 years.
John’s dry sense of humor, ability to fix anything, dedication to his family and passion of flying will be forever missed by the family and friends he leaves behind.
John is survived by his wife of 69 years Dorothy, his sons; John Jr. (Jack) and his wife Sandy of Ormond Beach, FL, Thomas and his wife Christine Finley of Waterbury, VT , and Andrew and his wife Francis of Poulsbo, WA. John is also survived by his 7 grandchildren; John Mendes, Shawn Mendes, Kattie Long, Annie Mendes, Jillian Mendes, Julie Klemond, and Paul Beaudoin; and his great-grandchildren; Jake Griffith, Josh Griffith, Natalie Klemond, Melanie Klemond, Kevin Klemond, Malia Mendes, and Tabitha Mendes. He was predeceased by his sister Laura Silva, his brothers Anthony Andreano Mendes and Emanuel Michael Mendes
A service will be held at the Spruce Creek Community Country Club on Thursday, February 15 at 4:00pm.
In Lieu of flowers, donations may be made to; the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association Foundation, or the American Heart Association.

To send flowers to the family or plant a tree in memory of John F Mendes, please visit our Heartfelt Sympathies Store.

Order Flowers
Recently Shared Condolences
Recently Shared Stories
Recently Shared Photos