John W. Ackley

John W. Ackley, 92, of Moline, Illinois, died Wednesday, July 2, 2014, at UnityPoint Health - Trinity Rock Island, Rock Island, Illinois.

Services are 10 a.m. Monday in the Celebration of Life Chapel at Trimble Funeral and Cremation Center, Moline. Burial is Rock Island National Cemetery, where Moline American Legion and Patriot Guard Riders will present military honors. Visitation is 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the funeral home. Memorials may be made to Friendship Manor, 1209 21st Avenue, Rock Island or Quad City Animal Welfare Center, Milan.

John William Ackley was born May 8, 1922, in Athens, Ohio, to Florine (Smith) and
Autmer Ackley, and grew up on the family dairy farm near Athens. After graduating from high school in 1939, he joined the Civilian Conservation Corps and served in eastern Oregon. He then enrolled in Athens Aviation Mechanics School, and after completing this training was employed at the Martin Bomber Co. in Baltimore, Maryland. Anxious to be more directly involved in the war, he volunteered for and was accepted by the Army Aviation Cadet Program, and was called to active duty on December 7, 1942. He was commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant and received his pilot's wings at Williams Field near Phoenix, Arizona, in October, 1943, and was later promoted to Captain.

John flew 63 combat missions over Europe in the P-38 Lightning Fighter Bomber with the 474th Fighter Group in the 9th Air Force. He flew top cover during the invasion of Normandy on D-Day and was directly involved in the Battle of the Bulge. He was awarded The Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with 12 Oak Leaf Clusters. He and his wing mates were each awarded the Belgian Fourragere for stopping a squadron of German tanks that were advancing on a Belgian village

He was hospitalized in Belgium in January, 1945, and was returned to the States in March, 1945. He then returned to active duty but was again hospitalized at Fitzsimons General Hospital, Denver, Colorado, where he met and married his nurse, Marion Adele Buss, on February 21, 1947.

After the war, John attended Oklahoma A&M College and Ohio State University. After graduating from Ohio State with a degree in Agricultural Engineering, he was employed by Deere & Company for 33 years, retiring in November, 1984. He worked with the Deere Product Development Department for four years, the Planter Works Product Engineering Dept. for nine years, where he was responsible for initiating Deere's line of agricultural chemical application equipment, and then with Deere & Company's European office in Heidelberg, Germany, for six years, where he was Manager of Product Engineering Coordination. He then returned to Deere & Company Technical Center and was responsible for Deere's sponsored research until he retired. He was granted nine patents while with Deere & Company.

John was a fellow and 60 year member of the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers, where he served as Regional Vice-President of the national society, and as the President of the local chapter. While in Europe, he represented the ASABE with the International Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers. He served on the Industrial Professional Advisory Council at Penn State University for 6 years and also belonged to many other professional organizations.

John was a Paul Harris Fellow with the Moline Rotary Club, a member of the 474th Fighter Group Association WWII, the P-38 National Association, the Air Force Association, the Moline American Legion, and the Military Officers Association. He was a long time member of Short Hills Country Club. He loved gardening and reading, and he and his wife, Marion, traveled extensively.

John is survived by his wife, Marion; children and their spouses, Jean and Irwin Witzel of Phoenix, Arizona, Judy and Craig Miller of Moline, John II and Allyson Ackley of Moline, and Randy and Teresa Ackley of West Palm Beach, Florida; five grandchildren; three step-grandchildren; one great-grandson; three step-great-grandchildren; and a sister and two brothers in Ohio. He was preceded in death by his parents and two sisters.

John's family invites friends to share stories and condolences and light a candle in his memory at www.TrimbleFuneralHomes.com.