Pinckneyville-Du Quoin Airport board member Frank Desio of Du Quoin retires after 24 years

Frank Desio retired from a career in the Indiana steel business to retire to Du Quoin with his beloved wife, Phyllis, 24 years ago.

The couple chose Du Quoin over the Deep South because Phyllis had family in Du Quoin and as a seasoned pilot he had the opportunity to serve on the Pinckneyville-Du Quoin Airport board.

"I went to the airport and got on the committee," Desio said, remembering the airport's FBO (Fixed Base Operator) George Slover. "In recent years I have done a lot of the work myself," he said.

That included tracking expenses and income, making repairs, working through capital improvements and meeting the FAA's regulations.

Through it all, he has enjoyed safe landings as a pilot for the past 65 years.

"I soloed in 1949 and flew to Acapulco, Mexico in 1960 in my rag wing Cessna 140," he remembers.

Two of his favorite planes were a 1947 and a 1958 Bellanca.

"I was a partner in an airplane with John Mann of Mann's Sporting Goods," he said.

"Eventually, I ran it (the airport)," he said, frustrated that his health in recent months hasn't been the best.

He's 85 and his heart is still with that airport. He has enjoyed working alongside people like Steve Moss and Kevin Kuhnert in adding 10 new T-hangars, remodeling the office and baths and promoting the airport as a resource for the community. "The governor flies in there," he said.

Moss is working hard to computerize the airport's records and agreements were signed last year with the Illinois Department of Transportation for runway repaving.

But for 24 years, Frank Desio gave an unconditional caring to the work of giving local pilots a home--largely on $5,000 each from Du Quoin and Pinckneyville.