and was 93 years old when he passed away on Good Friday, April 2nd, 2021.
He grew up alongside six siblings in Arley, Alabama: Lecil, Ray, James, and triplets Juanita, O’Lita,
and LaGeita.
When Jim turned 18, he enlisted in the Navy in May 1945. He was serving aboard the gunboat
PGM 9, in Okinawa, when Japan surrendered on August 15th, 1945. Jim was released from duty
on July 15th, 1946, and went to 3 years of college on the GI Bill, before joining the U.S. Air Force
in November 1950.
He flew with the 318th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, piloting the F-89 Scorpion, the first all
weather interceptor jet aircraft. Jim spent one and a half years in Greenland at Thule Air Base
before returning to the U.S. and being discharged from Presque Isle, Maine in 1954.
Jim said he was such a “Hotshot Pilot” that they kept him in Greenland to cool him down! He
stayed in the USAF Reserves for another 10 years. After being discharged from the Air Force, he
joined the Civil Aeronautics Authority in 1955 as an Air Traffic Control Specialist. Jim had a
successful career of 30 years with the Federal Aviation Administration, with most of it spent as
Air Traffic Control Supervisor.
During his many years at the ATC Center in Longmont, Colorado, he enjoyed endless days of
golfing, hiking, skiing and hunting. In his spare time, he attended Ames College in Greeley,
where he obtained his Real Estate Brokers License and went on to manage his own real estate
agency for 20 years.
However, the greatest moment of his life was when he was 20 years old, having returned home,
he walked into the Baptist Church in Curry, Alabama. There he met Helen Ponder, aged 17. They
were inseparable since that day, and went on to have a loving marriage of 70 years. This
wonderful marriage would produce two beloved sons, James Neal Hendon Jr. and Richard Philip
Hendon.
He is survived by his wife of 70 years, Helen Hendon; son, James Neal Hendon Jr.; son and
daughter-in-law, Richard Philip and Kelly Hendon; and 2 granddaughters: Amanda and
Cassandra Hendon; and sister, O’Lita Chandler along with many other loving family members
and friends.
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