Obituary: Joan 'Johnnie' Pantanelli, 97, honored for World War II Civil Air Patrol service
Joan "Johnnie" Pantanelli, who served in the Civil Air Patrol during World War II, became a pilot and passed on her love of flying to scores of young people, died on Jan. 14.
The 1943 Scarsdale High School graduate and longtime White Plains resident was 97.
Pantanelli, then Joan Adkins, went to NYU after high school to study aeronautical engineering. But she wanted to contribute to the war effort.
First she worked on bombers for General Electric. Then Pantanelli joined the Marine Corps Reserves, from 1944-1945. "When the war was over, they said, 'thank you ladies, we don't need you anymore,'" Pantanelli said during a 2016 oral history recording. "I was heartbroken, I wanted to stay so badly. I loved it."
She had also joined the Civil Air Patrol.
Pantanelli served as an observer on reconnaissance missions to look for submarines off the East Coast. The antennae of German subs could be seen at night off the New Jersey coast.
During an oral history project interview with White Plains Public Library, Pantanelli admitted that her mom wasn't thrilled about her interest in flying, or in motorcycles. But she was determined to learn and saved her tips from working in a country club on the weekends to pay for flying time.
She earned her private pilot's license in 1947.
Squadron carries her name
Pantanelli remained part of the Civil Air Patrol, the official auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, and reached the rank of colonel. In 2015, she was among Civil Air Patrol members to be recognized with a Congressional Gold Medal, the highest civilian honor from the U.S. House of Representatives.
The local Civil Air Patrol unit, based in Katonah, is named the Col. Johnnie Pantanelli Composite Squadron. As longtime commander, she mentored hundreds through CAP.
She favored the Cessna 172.
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In 1970, Pantanelli earned the organization's Bronze Medal of Valor after she rescued an unconscious man from a burning car.
Pantanelli continued to attend weekly CAP meetings until last fall.
Meeting a motorcycle mechanic
A fan of motorcycles ‒ despite her parents' misgivings ‒ Pantanelli met a young mechanic at the local motorcycle shop named John Pantanelli. The two wed in 1952 and moved to White Plains.
They later operated a motorcycle shop before launching a scaffolding company. After her husband's death in 1987, Pantanelli and their son ran the New York City-based company. She continued working there into her 90s.
She kept riding motorcycles into her 80s.
A parishioner of Our Lady of Sorrows in White Plains, Pantanelli sang baritone in the choir for 50 years.
Pantanelli is survived by her son, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Funeral information
Visitation takes place from 2-4 p.m. and 6-9p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18. at McMahon, Lyon & Hartnett Funeral Home, Inc., 491 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains.
A funeral Mass takes place at 10 a.m. Thursday at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, 920 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains.
This article originally appeared on Rockland/Westchester Journal News: WW II Civil Air Patrol's Joan Pantanelli, of White Plains, dies at 97
