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John Elgin died peacefully on the evening of Feb. 23, 2025. He was 93 years old. Born in Anderson County, South Carolina, on Feb. 13, 1932, to Frank and Susie Elgin (nee McGill), he was number nine of 10 children.
After serving in the Korean War as a petty officer for the Navy, he met his first wife, Joan Pedigo, in Cave City, Kentucky, while driving a semi for a pipeline company. They lived in Hendersonville, North Carolina, for a while and he spent his free time learning to fly at the local airport. It was on a visit to see his brother, Raymond, in Cody that he decided flying was what he wanted to do. John, Joan and their 4-month-old son moved to Cody in 1965. John bought into his brother’s business, Aero-Flite, and together they started Elgin Flying Service, a charter company.
Through those two companies they flew air tankers and charters. They once flew 2,000 2-pound tins of cookies to fellow Cody resident Colonel Ray Gould in Cheyenne. The cookies were bound for the troops in Vietnam. In the days before satellite phones, local outfitters in the mountains would keep an eye out for a roll of toilet paper slowly unfurling in the air after being dropped from an Elgin Flying Service airplane. Inside of the roll would be an important message for someone at the camp. There was no other way to communicate at the time. He worked closely with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department providing wildlife tracking and counting throughout the state.
Many of the pilots around Cody received instruction and their license from John, including his son. He was an A&P mechanic and designated examiner. He sold Elgin Flying Service in the late 1970s and continued to operate Aero-Flite until retiring in 1986. In retirement he could be found bright and early every Sunday morning cooking pancakes at the EAA breakfast with his wife, Carolyn, or in his hangar tinkering with an airplane. On occasion, he liked to visit one of his old tanker aircraft, a B-17, in the 390th Memorial Museum, part of the Pima Air Museum in Arizona. It’s called the “I’ll Be Around.”
John is survived by his son Michael (Beth), stepson David (Dena), their children Amanda, Kristen, Garrett and six greatgrandchildren. Preceding him in death is his first wife Joan Pedigo, daughter Stephanie Leigh, his second wife Carolyn, her daughter Jenny, and siblings Samual, Martha, Frances, Raymond, Frank, David, Daniel and Virginia.
Please join us at John’s service at the Riverside Cemetery on Saturday, April 12 at 10 a.m. Afterwards there will be a luncheon at the most fitting location, the Yellowstone Regional Airport at the Heart Mountain Bar and Grill in the main terminal. John loved to watch the planes and hang out at the airport while talking about the good old days of aviation in Cody, Wyoming.
In lieu of flowers, please donate to the Park County Animal Shelter: parkcountyanimalshelter.org/get-involved/ways-to-give/
Memories and condolences can be shared on John’s memorial page at BallardFH.com
