Harold R. Storey, 100, a World War II naval aviator and retired airline pilot, died July 28, 2022 in Oxford, Fla.
Born in Hickman Mills, Mo., Oct. 28, 1921 to Bert and Isabelle Storey, he served in the U.S. Navy from 1942 to 1947. Initially trained as a dive-bomber pilot, he was assigned to VRF-2, a squadron that ferried aircraft from production plants to the fleet. He flew almost every kind of airplane the Navy had.
Storey married Grace A. Wright in 1947 in Long Beach, Calif. He became a pilot for United Air Lines in 1951, retiring in 1981. The Storeys lived in Ridgefield, Conn., from 1964 until they moved to The Villages in 2002. Mrs. Storey died in 2014.
Storey celebrated his 100th birthday in October with a Zoom call with relatives and a driveway concert at home.
Surviving are three sons: Gregory D. (Charlene Komar), of Roselle Park, N.J., James R. (Kathleen Gorman), of Southport, N.C. and Eric (Kate Mallman), of Kenwood, Calif.; four grandchildren: Nolan, of New Orleans, Briana, of Charlotte, N.C. and Annaliese and Aiden, of Kenwood, Calif.; and a sister, Idabelle Schroepfer, of Covina, Calif. His older brother, Dean, died in 2005.
A memorial service will be held at a later date. Contributions in lieu of flowers may be made to the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, 1750 Radford Blvd., Suite B, NAS Pensacola, Fla. 32508, www.navalaviationfoundation.org.
