  Joe O'Dwyer Winter - 1997 Capt. Joseph E. O'Dwyer 11/19/18 - 8/15/11  Photo courtesy of Bill Callanan Capt. Joe O'Dwyer served in U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II. Part of his military service was in the China-Burma-India theater, flying C-46's over the Himalayas, a dangerous operation called flying the "Hump" that resulted in approximately 600 crashes. After the war, Joe became an airline pilot for the China National Aviation Corp. (CNAC), based in Hong Kong. When the communist revolution started, he returned to the U.S. and joined Seaboard where he was a pilot for 28 years. After retirement, Joe started a home building business and invented a Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) monitor for which he received a patent. Capt. Joe O'Dwyer is survived by his wife Marianne Warren O’Dwyer; daughters, Moira Anne (Harold) Edwards of Canaan, N.H, Laura Jo (Gerald) Garceau of Guilford, Conn., Susanna Lee (David) Krebs of Coconut Creek, Fla. and Sarah Melanie (Scott) Mulready of Burlington, Ky; 4 grandchildren and a great-grandson. former Raritan Twp. resident Joseph O'Dwyer, retired pilot and farmer, dies at 92 Published: Friday, September 09, 2011 by Hunterdon County Democrat  Joseph O'Dwyer BURLINGTON, Ky. — Joseph Edward O’Dwyer, formerly of Raritan Township and Huntington, W. Va., died Monday, Aug. 15, 2011 at the Baptist Village Care Center in Erlanger, Ky. He was 92 Mr. O’Dwyer was born in Ashland, Ky. and grew up in Huntington. He was an Eagle Scout. He graduated from Huntington High School in 1937, attended Marshall College and began his flying career at Lunken Field in nearby Cincinnati, Ohio. When World War II began he joined the Army Air Corps as an instructor pilot in Spartanburg, S.C. Having flown aircraft ranging from Waco bi-planes to the B-25 bomber, he finished the war in the China-Burma-India theatre flying C-46 “Commando” aircraft over the Himalayan Mountains in an effort called “The Hump.” This was a very dangerous mission to deliver desperately needed supplies to troops in China. After the war, Mr. O’Dwyer became an airline pilot for the China National Aviation Corp. (CNAC), flying the DC-4 out of Hong Kong. When the Chinese communist revolution began, he returned to the United States and was hired by Seaboard World Airlines out of Idlewild Airport, N.Y., later renamed John F. Kennedy Airport. He was a member of the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA). While at Seaboard, he flew in support of the “Berlin Blockade,” the “Pacific Airlifts” of both the Korean and Vietnam wars and many Military Air Transport Service (MATS) charters, flying the DC-4, DC-8, Canadair CL-44, Lockheed Super Constellation, Boeing 707 and 747 aircraft. After having travelled the world several times over and flying to all seven continents, he logged more than 30,000 hours of flight time and retired from aviation with 28 years of service at Seaboard World. Mr. O’Dwyer was active in retirement. He started a home building business, Clonmel Construction Corp. and developed his farm in Raritan Township. He invented a Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) monitor, was active in the Calvary Baptist Church, where he served Communion, and in the Flemington chapter of Rotary International, where he received an award for perfect attendance. Mr. O’Dwyer and his wife, Marianne, moved to Burlington in 2006. He was a loving husband for nearly 63 years and a caring father to his four daughters, Moira, Laura, Susanna and Sarah. He was preceded in death by brothers, John J. “Jack” O’Dwyer and Bernard L. O’Dwyer; sister, Virginia Rose Pellegrini; and parents, John M. and Virginia L. Dent O’Dwyer. Survivors include his wife, Marianne Warren O’Dwyer; daughters, Moira Anne (Harold) Edwards of Canaan, N.H, Laura Jo (Gerald) Garceau of Guilford, Conn., Susanna Lee (David) Krebs of Coconut Creek, Fla. and Sarah Melanie (Scott) Mulready of Burlington; grandchildren Joshua J. (Robyn) Edwards, Victoria A. (Jeremy) Edwards-White, Warren R. (Casandra) Garceau, and Jared M. Garceau; and a great-grandson, Jack Vincent Edwards. Funeral services have been held. Memorials can be made to the SIDS Foundation of Cincinnati, 3333 Burnet Ave., Cincinnati, OH 45229 or Alzheimer’s Association, 644 Linn St., Cincinnati OH 45203. Arrangements were by Middendorf-Bullock Funeral Home. Online condolences can be posted at http://www.middendorfbullock.com (Please sign the guestbook at the above site. Thanks.)  or would like to be added to the CNAC e-mail distribution list, please let the CNAC Web Editor, Tom Moore, know. Thanks! |