Joseph Aldendifer, Jr.
May 17, 1916 – November 8, 2002
Mr. Aldendifer died Nov. 8, 2002, in Rancho Mirage, Calif.
He had been a military and commercial pilot and president of the Mount Pulaski Telephone and Electric Company.
He was born May 17, 1916, to Joseph R. and Marguerite C. Aldendifer.
He attended Central School in Lincoln; St. John's Military Academy in Delafield, Wis.; and Colorado College, Colorado Springs, Colo., where he was in the class of 1939.
In 1940 he applied for flight training with the U.S. Army Air Corps and began his training at Lindbergh Field, San Diego, Calif., with the Ryan School of Aeronautics. He completed flight training at Kelley Field, Texas, with the class of 1941.
He was assigned to the 95th Bomber Group of the 8th Air Force at Harham, Suffolk, England. He served as command pilot of a B-17 squadron and in that capacity was award the Distinguished Flying Cross in June 1945.
Later in 1945, following his discharge, he began his commercial flying career with Continental Airlines. He retired from the airline in 1976.
Soon thereafter he returned to Lincoln and assumed the role of president of the Mount Pulaski Telephone and Electric Company. He held that position until 1991, when the company was sold to the Rochester Telephone Company.
Memorials may be made to the Wayne J. Schall Hospice of Lincoln.