Paul Glendon Ridgway

Sorrells Funeral Home of Enterprise

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Posted by: Sorrells Funeral Home
[email protected]
(334) 347-9598
Date: Jan 28 2012 7:01 PM

Sorrells Funeral Home

4550 Boll Weevil Circle

Enterprise, Alabama 36330

(334) 347-9598

Date:   January 27, 2012

Obituary:   Paul Ridgway

 

            Mr. Paul Ridgway of Enterprise, AL passed away Friday, January 27, 2012 at the family residence.  He was 89. 

             Funeral services will be 11:00am Tuesday from the Sorrells Funeral Home Chapel in Enterprise with Father Patrick Maher officiating. Burial with military honors will follow in the Meadowlawn Cemetery. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Monday from 5 until 7pm. In lieu of flowers, the family request memorials be made to the building fund at St. John Catholic Church in Enterprise.  

              Mr. Ridgway was born April 2, 1922 in Bridgeton, New Jersey the son of the late Hartley W. and Margaret C. (Corliss) Ridgway. From 1941 to 1946 he was in the Navy. He attended basic training in Norfolk, VA. He left the Navy in 1946. While he was aboard the USS Hornet, he participated in the Jimmy Doolittle raid on Tokyo. During the battle of Coral Sea, the carrier, Hornet, was sunk, and he had to abandon ship. He earned a purple heart for the incident. Following his Navy service, Ridgway used his GI Bill to learn how to fly. He joined the Air Force and graduated from flight school in Waco, TX, in 1949. He trained on the T-6 and F-51 Mustang. Following flight school he and Margaret traveled to Albuquerque, NM, where was an air defense pilot. Piloting a G-86 in Korea, he flew 100 missions. On his second mission his plane caught on fire and he had to bail out. He later learned to fly helicopters, the H-13, and the H-19. After 14 years in the Air Force, he retired as a Captain at Stead AFB, Reno, NV, and later became a Dept. of the Army civilian instructor pilot at Ft. Rucker. He liked to travel. He was in the Coast Guard Aux in P.C., FL. After retiring from Ft. Rucker, he was able to enjoy his passion for sailing. Two brothers, Hartley W. and Dr. William G. Ridgway preceded him in death. 

               Survivors include his wife of 62 years, Margaret Bird Ridgway, Enterprise; daughter, Paula M. Ridgway, Enterprise; brother: Wade H. Ridgway (Doris), Mantua, NJ; half brothers: Rushton Ridgway, Vineland, NJ and Jogef Ridgway, Norristown, NJ.

                The family wishes to give a special thank you to Day Spring Hospice & his personal sitters.

 To sign a guest register, please visit www.sorrellsfuneralhomes.com

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