KEVIN RAUCH/FOR THE EXPRESS Volunteers prepare to hang a Flyboys mural on the side of Tony’s Hardware. The mural will be unveiled during a ceremony on Monday.

KEVIN RAUCH/FOR THE EXPRESS
The latest mural honoring Renovo’s Flyboys is covered on Tony’s Hardware. The mural will be unveiled during a ceremony on Monday.

RENOVO — Anyone that knows Rich Wykoff, surely understands his love of all things Renovo, particularly the history of the small town.

Much of Wykoff’s dedication makes up a substantial part of the Greater Renovo Area Heritage Park. With the retired school teacher being a longtime member and often president of GRAHP, it should not go unnoticed when he calls this weekends’ program and subsequent unveiling of a mural dedicated to Renovo’s Flyboys “something that I have not been this excited about it a long, long time.”

Wykoff’s excitement is well justified.

Led by Trish Wilson of South Renovo, the group has put together a program that will honor over two dozen Flyboys (a term defining pilots and any member of the U.S. Air Force) that served during WWII.

The work was extensive as Wilson used any method she could to find out information on Renovo’s hometown heroes. Wilson scoured local newspapers’ archives, spoke to family members and even the PA Veterans Affairs office.

The work will serve as a preservation of these young men and their actions dedicated to their country that will last forever. Often referred to as “boys” from local papers at the time of their deaths, the term is quite fitting, as some joined at the age of 17.

Going hand in hand with the preservation work of the Flyboys lives, a mural commissioned by Robert “Haney” Calhoun will be unveiled following a brief synopsis. She will speak on some of the heroic accomplishments from western Clinton County’s own members.

The ceremony is at 2 p.m. at the site of the mural along Tony’s Hardware on Huron Avenue, where it will be unveiled and placed.

Just some of those to be honored will be: Glenn Barrows, John Brunner, Richard Clark, Francis Conti, Stephen Cullinan, John Curcio, Frank Depolis, John Fantaskey, Charles Fink, Clyde Fry, Joseph Grugan, William Hagen, Bertha Herritt, Gordon Johnson, Phillip Knauff, Bernard Larson, Francis Lovett, Dean Linger (killed in action), Stanley Mason, the Newlen brothers, Carl, Charles and Eugene Newlen, Arthur Pierson, Ed Polski, Fred Reed, John Renehan, Anthony Sackarnoski, Thomas Shon, Charles Simerson, Henry Staib (killed in action), Charles Stimpson, Harry Stiner, Sidney Swift, John Treon and Royal Wykoff.

Below is a recounting from Wilson on her part of the project, which will serve as introduction on Sunday:

On Dec. 2, 2022, I attended a planning meeting about a Flyboys Mural that Robert “Haney” Calhoun was commissioned to do by the Greater Renovo Area Heritage Park. I was asked to put together information about the Flyboys for the Memorial Day 2023 unveiling. I accepted the challenge at that meeting because Rich Wykoff asked me and because I owed him for the many ways he assisted with our Veterans Day Assembly at Bucktail Area Middle/Senior High School.

Little did I know the task that was given me was filled with so many emotions. At first, I had experienced the frustration of not knowing where to begin and wanting to drop the project altogether.

As I continued to dive into the project, ever so slowly, I began to realize the importance of this task. Many of their stories were left untold, yet begging to be told.

I purchased a copy of Heath White’s book “Air Corps Days: The Journey of a World War II Flyboy” about Arthur Pierson — his great uncle who was killed in a plane crash as a Flyboy in WWII. Knowing Heath as a young boy, I was mesmerized by his story.

My first contact was with Heath and so my research began. Heath, you were my inspiration.

My frustration continued because finding information was a challenge. As the information slowly trickled in, my frustration turned into a mission with a purpose. Never having been in the military myself, I owed these men who risked everything in defense of our nation.

It was time for the Flyboys of Renovo to take center stage and be recognized with this beautiful mural for future generations. I gathered as many stories as I could, knowing that there are still many yet untold, but I had three months to complete this task. The moral of the story is that you must start somewhere, and so I did.

I began with a list of names given to me by Haney Calhoun. His grandmother, Pauline Finnefrock, had compiled a list of Flyboys and so I started there.

I posted a cry for help on Facebook and The Record. People began calling me with information. I received a phone call one Sunday night from a woman in Florida, who wanted her high school sweetheart to be included among the Flyboys. As the story unfolded, it turned out that this woman was from Hammersley Fork, Pa., and knew my father-in-law, Woodrow Wilson. I had a wonderful chat about her Flyboy sweetheart, she is 99 years old.

She told me they were separated after high school and years down the road, she reconnected with him after reading his wife’s obituary. Sadly, he passed away at the age of 98 in 2022, but they were able to spend some time together before he passed.

Not only were these Flyboys part of the Greatest Generation, but their stories carried with them a romantic flair emulated by sounds of the times from bands such as Glenn Miller. It has been my honor and privilege to put a dent into the stories of the Flyboys who have ties to the community of Renovo. Thank you, gentleman, for your service and sacrifice. The pages of history are honored to share some of the stories of the Greatest Generation!