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Obituary for Edwin Fonner
Fonner, Lt. Col. Edwin, was born on May 21, 1921 in Poland, OH. He died on November 28, 2012 at the University of Colorado Hospital on the campus of the old Fitzsimons Army Medical Center, Denver CO. He grew up in Ohio, graduating from Poland’s Seminary High School in 1939. Soon thereafter, he graduated from the Anderson Airplane School of Nashville, TN. In April 1944 as a 2nd Lt., he took his primary and basic pilot training in Harlingen TX. Afterwards, he was stationed at Will Rogers Field, OK where he trained as a B-24 pilot. By June 13, 1944, he was stationed at Gowen Army/Air Force Base with the 450th Bomb Group, Boise ID. He began his WWII tour in the U.S. Army Air Forces as a B-24 Liberator pilot. Stationed in Italy during a portion of the European conflict, he flew bombing missions over Ploesti Poland, helping to knock out oil refineries critical to the enemy. He flew all of the missions required his combat tour of duty, never crashing or being injured. He was among the first pilots to serve in the new U.S. Air Force in 1948. At that time, he met and married Anna Mae Pobor of Raton NM. The ceremony took place in the Eisenhower Chapel, Lowry AFB, Denver CO. From 1948-1949, he served in Yokohama, Japan AFB. After completing his Air Traffic Controller course in Boston, MA in 1952, he was stationed with the 187th Airborne Regimental Combat Team until 1954 during the Korean War. He spent a year in Thule, Greenland as part of the Defense Early Warning system in the 1950’s. In 1958 he was stationed at Neubiberg AFB, Munich Germany. He commanded a Wing and base operations. He completed his Instructor Pilot Course at Tinker AFB, OK in 1959. After he was trained as a C-124 MATS pilot at Palm Beach AFB FL and while stationed at Dover AFB, he flew in the Berlin Air Lift, the conflict in the Belgian Congo, and most other international conflicts of the day. He retired on March 31, 1965, with an honorable discharge from the Air Force, with 22 years of total active duty military service of which there were over 8 years of Foreign Service. In 1966 he was a Civil Service pilot instructor and for several years flew commercial charter. He stated later that he always wanted to fly, but never wanted to be an administrator. Lt. Col. Fonner stated his proudest achievements were the Distinguished Flying Cross and his Command Pilot wings. He said that during his USAF flying career, he logged over 2 million miles in the air. His great passions were flying and golfing.
