John David Ringlehan, Sr. 96, formerly of Rome, New York passed away peacefully at his home in Valrico, Florida on Thursday, November 4, 2021.   He was born on November 27, 1924 in Campbell Hall, NY the son of William and Alma (McBride) Ringlehan.

In addition to his parents and six siblings, John was preceded in death by his wife Irene (Chapman) Ringlehan,  daughter Janette (Ringlehan) Richter, granddaughter Sheri Lynn Ringlehan and great grandson Richard "Ricky" Cox.

For the past several years, John resided with children in New York, Virginia and settled in Florida with his daughter JoAnne and son-in-law Kip Cox.

John enlisted into the US Army Air Corps, 1943, at the age of 19.  Basic training was in Miami Beach, FL then to  Airborne Radio Operator School at Scott Field AFB, Illinois and  Airborne Gunnery School at Tyndall AFB, Florida.  Crew training was at Mitchell Field, Long Island, NY where his crew was assigned to a brand new B-24.   Then deployed to the WW 2 European Theatre of Operations in Italy.   John was part of a crew that flew a B-24 Liberator out of Ceringola, Italy as part of the 451st Bomb Group of the 744th Squadron.  John's crew flew 19 combat mission with 26 sorties.   On  28 July 1944, John and his crew were shot down during a bomb run over the Ploesti Oil Fields of Romania.   He and his surviving crew were captured and held as POW's in Bucharest, Romania.

Following the end of  WW 2, John spent several years trapping and  as a tradesman until returning to the US Air Force in 1949.   John meet and married the love of his life, Irene Chapman in 1950 and had seven children.  John continued his flight career being stationed from bases in Texas, Maine, Puerto Rico, New Hampshire and New York.For his valor on the battlefield and meritorious service, John earned the Prisoner of War Medal, WW 2 Victory Medal, European-African-Middle Eastern Ribbon w/ 4 Bronze Stars, Good Conduct Medal, the Air Medal w/ 4 clusters and the Vietnam Service Medal.

After his retirement from active service in 1969, John remained committed to veteran's organizations.  As well as being a founder and life time member of the Mohawk Chapter of the Air Force Sergeant's Association, he was involved in his local VFW, DAV and American Legion Posts.  He was President and Treasurer of the Greater Utica Area EX-POW Chapter.

He proudly served his country in WW 2 and devoted many years of service to his Rome, NY community.  He was honored by his community when he was selected to run a leg of the Olympic Torch relay for the 2000 Salt Lake Winter Olympics.  John was also inducted into the 2012 NY State Senate's Veteran's HALL of  FAME.

John was a devoted husband, father and grandfather.  He will be remembered for his kindness, loyalty to friends, love of his family and country.  He enjoyed the great outdoors; trapping, camping, hunting, fishing, canoeing, boating, swimming and gardening.  He also enjoyed a cold beer or two with friends and a godd game of cribbage.  He loved to watch baseball and football.  GO GIANTS!!

In his spiritual life, John was a devout Catholic and long time member of St. John's Catholic Church of Rome, NY.  A mass of Christian burial will be celebrated at 11:00 am on November 19th, 2021 at St. Stephen Catholic Church in Riverview, Florida.   John will be returned to Arlington National Cemetery,  Arlington, Virginia for his final resting place next to his beloved wife, Irene.

John is survived by his six children and one widowed son-in-law:  JoAnne and Freeman (Kip) Cox of Valrico, FL;  Janis and Royal Duffy of Palmyra, VA;  James Richter of Sebastian, FL;  John,Jr. and Debbie Ringlehan of Rome, NY;  Michael and Kathleen Ringlehan of Scurry, TX;  Patti (Ringlehan) Slaughter of Homosassa, FL;  and   Alma and Thomas Scheible of Charlottesville, VA;  17 Grandchildren;  17 Great Grandchildren and 5 Great-Great Grandchildren.

The family would like to extend our gratitude and appreciation to the LifePath Hospice for their support and guidance through John's final journey.

To honor John's memory, donations may be made to Wounded Warriors Project, PO Box 758541, Topeka, KS 66675-8541.