LeRoy E.” Roy” Shanklin, a World War II Army Air Corps B- 24 Liberation pilot who afterwards became a , Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.  , district superintendent, died of pneumonia , June 1 , at his , Bel Air , house. He was 101.
LeRoy Edward Shanklin, child of , Stanley Shanklin, a producer and , Glen Arm , public business owner, and , Claire Marshall Shanklin, a wife, was born and raised in , Fork.
He attended , Fork Elementary School , and , Towson High School, where he was the fielder for the collegiate football team.
Finding farmwork never to his desire,  , Mr. Shanklin , went to work as an office son for BGE and then as a branch cutter for the value.
With the declaration of war after the bombing of , Pearl Harbor , in , Hawaii , on , Dec. 7, 1941,  , Mr. Shanklin, who had always wanted to fly, went to the local recruiting train and enlisted on Dec. 10 in the , Army Air Corps.
He was sent to , Davis &, Elkins College , in , West Virginia, and after completing flight training in , Texas  , and , Blythe, California, he was commissioned in 1944 and assigned to the , 23rd Bomb Squadron, 5th , Heavy Bomb Group, of the 13th , Air Force , in the , Pacific Theater of Operations.
Mr. Shanklin, who flew his B- 24 Liberation from , Washington , to , Hawaii, and then on to , New Guinea , in the South Pacific, began flying fight operations in 1944.
Because its squadrons were n’t stationed close to cities, the 13th was known as the” Jungle Air Force.”
” The 13th battled over millions of square miles of ocean and tropical islands, ranging from , Tarawa , in the Central Pacific to , Hong Kong,  , Singapore , and Java in the west, and Java,  , New Guinea, and the , Solomons , to the south”, according to a record of the 13th. It is the only air pressure to have engaged in four venues of battle.
Mr. Shanklin , flew combat operations from a basic on , Biak Island , near ,  , New Guinea.
” He used to say he was always worried about getting beat but running out of gas over the ocean”, said his daughter , Judie Lizewski Bulger, of , Easton. He said,” I have his records, and he enjoyed conducting those operations against the Japanese.”
Discharged at battle’s ending with the rank of lieutenant,  , Mr. Shanklin , had designs that included the World War II Victory prize, Oriental- Pacific Campaign Medal with five war stars, Philippine Liberation Ribbon and American Theater Ribbon.
Like many returning World War II veterans,  , Mr. Shanklin , did n’t talk much about his wartime experiences.
” He started talking to his sons, who gleaned a lot of information from him as he grew older”, his girl said.
Mr. Shanklin , returned to his previous career at BGE where he later was promoted to brand foreman and finally as superintendent for the energy ‘s , Cockeysville District. He retired in 1983.
He had an Apache helicopter and a Cessna and continued to fly into his 60s.
” When I was living on New York ‘s , Long Island, he and Mommy may fly away and he’d excitement my house and then I’d travel 2 km to the airport to pick them up”, his daughter said.
During his education times,  , Mr. Shanklin , skillfully flew beneath telephone lines.
” He used to fly with his wife, Ginny, under the , Bay Bridge , and deliver planes that needed engine work to a repair facility in Western Maryland” , , Ms. Bulger , said. ” It gave him an excitement rush”.
His brother,  , LeRoy E. Jr., was a plane engineer assigned to the , 101st Airborne Division , based in , Duc Phu,  , Vietnam. Thoroughly wounded during a nighttime harm on the bottom, the younger , Mr. Shanklin , died a year later in 1968. He was 19 and received the Purple Heart.
” My father never got over it”, his daughter said.
As a result of his father’s suicide,  , Mr. Shanklin , became an active participant of , American Legion Post 39 , and volunteered at the , Perry Point VA Medical Center , in , Cecil County.
” For 39 years, he and my mother, who was a Gold Star Mother, presented a , Memorial Day , wreath at services” , , Ms. Bulger , said. ” He was 98 when he laid his final wreath”.
He was married for 72 times to , Mildred Virginia ,” Ginny” Streett, who died in 2016.
Mr. Shanklin , enjoyed birds hunting, fishing, catching and archer and had established an archer team with a few companions. He was also an ardent collectors of bird drones, which he also repaired.
Gaining pensioner status meant that , Mr. Shanklin , kept active.
His motto was,’ Do n’t stop moving or you ca n’t, “his daughter said.
” At meal, he generally set daily goals for himself. He worked every day and up until a quarter before his death was on his , John Deere , vehicle mowing, raking and doing yardwork. He was 99 when he had his final fruit yard,” she said”. He was simply a really goal- oriented individual.”
Mr. Shanklin , abstained from drinking but did enable himself a regular luxury of one French Masters Palma cigar, his daughter said.
” He did n’t go in for fancy cigars, but liked his Dutch Masters,” she said.
Mr. Shanklin , attended church weekly and was an active member of , Grandview Christian Church , at , 2022 Fallston Road , in , Fallston, where services will be held at , 11 a. m. Wednesday. Interment will be in , Bel Air Memorial Gardens.
In addition to his daughter, he is survived by a brother,  , Robert Shanklin , of , Fulton, two grandsons, a granddaughter, three great- grandsons, five great- granddaughters, two great- great- grandsons, and a great- great- granddaughter.
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