Obituary of John L. Raabe

John L. Raabe was born on September 14, 1921 to Lester M. Raabe and Jeannie M. Raabe of Stockton. He is known to all of his friends as "Jack" Raabe. Jack was raised in Stockton and graduated from High School in 1938. He attended the University of Pacific for a couple of years, majoring in engineering. While attending college, Jack decided to take a flying lesson at a school located at the Stockton airport. He excelled and found that his love of flying was greater than his desire to be an engineer. He finished flight school in 1940 and decided to go to flight instructor school. He finished first in his class and was asked to go to work for $300 a week. This was a difficult time for Jack as he tried to balance his studies at UOP and keep up with his teaching job at the airport. He elected to leave college and move to Carson City, Nevada to teach advanced flight training and aerobatics to potential military pilots who were being trained for what would eventually be World War II. In 1941, Jack attempted to enlist in the Military as a pilot, but he was turned down due to a physical issue. Jack went to work for Pan American Airways System in San Francisco so he could advance his flying experience. He Flew the Boeing 314 flying boat from Treasure Island to Hawaii and other Pacific Islands. Shortly after the US entered the War, Pan American was cntracted with the Navy to fly supplies and personnel to the Pacific Islands. He was given a commission as LT Jr Grade. and flew from San Francisco to the Islands until the end of the War 1945. Jack married his high school sweetheart, Madelyn Hahn and they settled in Alameda until the end of the war. In 1944 they were blessed with a daughter, Linda. At the end of the war, Jack and his family moved to Florida to continue flying for Pan Am. In 1946 a second child was born, John Jr. It wasn't long after this that the family was moved back to the West Coast where Jack continued to fly the Pacific routes for Pan Am. More time passed and in 1949 Jack was blessed with a second son, William. The family settled in San Mateo for several years, but eventually moved to the small town of Los Altos, just a few miles further south. The year was 1951. Jack tried his hand at building a house between flights and the family moved into a beautiful house. After about 5 years, Jack decided to build another home and in 1957 the family moved to a house, not more than a block away from the first house. This would be the last house he would build. Jacks family continued to grow. His kids grew up and got married. Soon there were grandchildren running his life and demanding attention from him. He was more than happy to spend time with them as time allowed. Jack was now a Captain for Pan Am, flying Boeing 747 all over the world. Jack retired from Pan Am in 1980. Even though 39 years of flying was no enough, the FAA required him to retire at 60. He went to work for a company that was affiliated with NASA. It was called ASRS and he compiled data from all over the US to document near miss and tower mishaps in aviation. After a few years, he gave this job up and went into complete retirement so he could enjoy his family. Many more years passed and in 2004, his wife of 63 years passed away suddenly. He was left alone, but did not stop enjoying life. He continued to socialize with Pan Am retirees and eventually met Betty Dean. Betty's husband had also flown with Pan Am, but he died a year earlier. Jack and Betty became close friends. They traveled together, went to plays together, had dinner together and watched over each other. In January of 2012, Jack was diagnosed with Cancer. This grew rapidly and he was admitted to the VA hospital. He passed away quietly on March 26th.




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