MT. VERNON - Obbie Orville Atkinson, 86, was cleared for take-off from this world on Feb. 4, 2011, in San Luis Obispo, Calif. Born Dec. 16, 1924, in rural Jefferson County, he was the eighth and youngest child of Joseph E. and Susie Reese Atkinson. Obbie grew up on a farm with no electricity or running water, enlisted in the Army Air Corps during WWII and became an aircraft commander and instructor pilot in B-29 Superfortress bombers. Beginning with his first solo in a Piper Cub in 1942, he remained an active pilot for 68 years. Obbie married his high school sweetheart, Doris Virginia Stitch of Mt. Vernon, in 1944 and they raised 3 sons and a daughter. He owned and managed a series of automobile dealerships in Mt. Vernon where he served in various community service organizations and was a member of the Mt. Vernon Airport Authority Board of Commissioners. Obbie and Doris retired to Paso Robles, Calif. in 1986, where he was a part of Methodist Ministries and a very active member of the Estrella Warbird Museum, flying the lead aircraft in Freedom Flight, a formation of WWII aircraft honoring veterans each Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Obbie is survived by his beloved wife, Doris, children Obbie Ted (Connie) of Richland, Ore., David (Kathleen) of Calgary, Alberta, Joe (Fran) of Phoenix, Ariz., and Sue Lyn Goldman (Paul) of Leo, Ind.; and 15 grandchildren and six great grandchildren. He so enjoyed sharing all of their wide-ranging interests, education and accomplishments. "Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in the same worn out soil. My children . shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth." (Nathaniel Hawthorne) A celebration of his life will be held on Saturday, Feb. 12, at 10 a.m., at the Estrella Warbird Museum, 4251 Dry Creek Road, Paso Robles, Calif., www.ewarbirds.org. Please go to kuehlnicolayfuneralhome.com for further information or to sign the register book.