Obituary of John Thomas Hanks

John T. Hanks Jr. was born to John and Ethel Hanks in Colorado Springs, Colorado, April 13, 1926. He grew up in and around Denver but at an early age set off to chase his passionfor aviation where he ended up in Minot, North Dakota working on B-17 bombers.

When World War Two broke out John tried to get into the Army Air Corp. but his vision disqualified him and he was trained as a mule skinner. When that did not work out he was reclassified as a communications technician. The Army still had other plans for him because on the way to the Philippines he was assigned a machine gun crew. He served in campaigns in the Eastern Pacific and Philippines. Honorably discharged, he married Ella Fowle in 1946 and made their home in the Tri Cities area of Washington. He and Ella had three children, Janice, John III and Pam. They would live in the Tri Cities area for about twenty years where John was a Crop Duster Pilot and aviation instructor. Ella and John would eventually divorce.

In 1966 John would meet and marry Margaret A. Martin and they would move to Sparks, Nevada where John would work for Bill Harrah restoring aircraft at his world famous auto and aviation museum. John and Margaret would later open three franchises of Pauline Sportswear stores in Sparks, Reno, and Carson City. Always a creative person, he conceived and produced the "Perils of Pauline's" commercials for his three stores and won several awards for excellence in advertising. He also worked with local celebrity, Andy Barbano, producing award winning commercials for the local Subaru car dealer. As aviation was his passion, he was asked to help design and engineer a new corporate aircraft called the OMAC. When the company relocated in Georgia, he was asked to follow them there, which he did. He became disillusioned with the company and had an offer to come to Los Angeles area to work for Northrop on a new project. He accepted and spent the next few years working on a top secret project that would later be revealed as the B-2 Spirit Bomber.

When he had surgery for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in 1989, he retired. Then he and Margaret moved out of the bustle of Los Angeles to Lake Havasu City to be near Bob and Kathy Martin....Margaret's son and daughter in law.

John had built a dune buggy where he and Margaret would spend many hours exploring the area around Reno and when they moved to Lake Havasu City they resumed this hobby they so enjoyed together. Margaret passed away in 2007 and John has been living alone in their home ever since.

John was good friends with local aviation people and went flying as often as possible and very active in the local Desert Hawks RC Club, supplying the recovery boat for the Seaplane Classic and Schneider Cup RC Re-enactment for nearly twenty years.

John passed away peacefully at home a little before 4 am on Saturday, July 22, 2017. His family and caregiver were at his side. He had been visited by his youngest Daughter and her family the previous day. John is preceded in death by his parents, first wife Ella and second wife Margaret, Daughter-in-law Kathryn Martin and grandson David Hanks. He is survived by daughters Janice (Bob) Davis, Pam (Kiert) Toh, and sons John III (Barbara) and Robert Martin. He is also survived by grandsons Justin Davis, Paul Hanks and Chris Toh and 5 great grand children.

In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Hospice of Havasu and Wags to Riches in John's name.

Services were placed in the care of Lietz-Fraze Funeral Home. To send the family a free card, go to www.sendoutcards.com/lietzfraze.