By Phil Brooks

I’ve always loved the film “Airport,” a 1970 American film written and directed by George Seaton and starring Burt Lancaster and Dean Martin. It is the first and, in my opinion, best of the series of four such “disaster-drama” films. It was adapted from Arthur Hailey’s 1968 book, Airport. If you haven’t seen it, I urge you to do so; it’s very well done. 

The plot involves a suicide bomber on a Trans Global Airlines Boeing 707 to Rome, and a snowstorm’s effect on a large airport. I never saw the 1970 film in a theater, but saw it later on TV. It was probably “uncut” since it was “Rated G” and there was nothing too controversial in it. 

Being an airline enthusiast, I own the DVD, and my wife and I have a tradition of watching it every winter, since it takes place on a snowy evening at the fictional “Lincoln International Airport,” near Chicago.  The exterior scenes were actually filmed at the Minneapolis-St.Paul International Airport (MSP).

All the characters are wonderfully cast, especially the TWA senior mechanic named Joe Patroni, played by actor George Kennedy.

The cigar-chomping character was based on a real person, Roy Davis, who was Trans World Airlines’ Director of Maintenance at Chicago O’Hare.

Arthur Hailey spent time with Mr. Davis while conducting research for his book. George Kennedy also became friends with Mr. Davis. After the filming, Davis and Kennedy kept in touch. Kennedy attended Davis’ TWA retirement ceremony in 1981. Roy Davis passed away in Tucson, AZ, in 1998, and George Kennedy left us in 2016.

Roy wanted to be a pilot for TWA, but was instead offered a mechanic position in 1942. Roy served in the US Army Air Corps during World War II and eventually became Director of Maintenance for TWA at O’Hare. He received a special Federal Aviation Administration Certificate of Recognition for his contributions to commercial aviation during his time at O’Hare. In 1999, Roy Davis was enshrined in the Arizona Aviation Hall of Fame.

Clarence Copping, a Boeing 787 captain at my airline, fellow airline enthusiast, and World Airline Historical Society member, contacted me one day and told me that he had heard that Davis’ grave was in a small town cemetery in “downstate” Illinois.  He said, “Let’s go look for him!”

I’m always up for a trip like this, so I coincided it with a visit to the TBM Avenger Reunion at Peru, IL (VYS) on May 16, 2021. My friend Pete and I flew our flying club’s Cessna Skyhawk there from Eagle Creek Air Park in Indianapolis, IN (EYE). Traveling with us was Jim, another aviation enthusiast friend.

We enjoyed the event for a couple of hours, and then Clarence drove us south in his car. He had heard Davis was buried in the town of Minonk, about 35 miles south. We had a nice lunch (broasted chicken!) before visiting the town’s two cemeteries. After much walking around, we had no luck finding Davis’ grave. We had been unsuccessful when we tried looking on findagrave.com.

Clarence remembered that one of his daughters had a subscription to ancestry.com, so he “phoned a friend” and learned that Davis’ gravesite was actually twelve miles further south, in the town of El Paso!  Off we went, and after a few minutes of walking the grounds of Evergreen Cemetery, we found his final resting place.  

Clarence and I said a few words in his memory and placed our business cards on his grave. I’m sure he would have appreciated that we found him.

Roy Davis is interred next to his wife, Iona Kingdon Davis, who was a stewardess for TWA. Her entry on findagrave.com has a wonderful picture of her in her uniform! Roy Davis was hired at TWA in 1942, served in the Air Transport Command in WWII, and returned to TWA after the war. He and Iona married in 1949.

Roy Davis’ gravesite. Photo by Phil Brooks.

I discovered that we would have found him on findagrave.com if we’d known his middle name was Spangler. After returning home, I posted a comment on his page, stating that my friends and I had visited his grave. I suggested his interesting story needed to be told, as there was just a basic entry. Not long after, I heard back from the person who had posted the data and photo. She told me that since I had an interest in Davis, I was now the administrator of his entry! I don’t know if Mr. Davis has any living relatives, but I am proud to have that responsibility.

Mr. Davis was a significant person in both airline history and in popular culture, thanks to a wonderful performance by actor George Kennedy. I hope others will visit his grave and pay their respects.