Donovan Leighton dies at age 98.

Byline: Lewis Taylor The Register-Guard

Donovan Leighton met Eleanor Roosevelt and had an original Picasso hanging in his house, but he was most proud of his service with the Tuskegee Airmen, the first black flying unit in the U.S. military.

"That's something that lives on after him," said his son, Donovan Leighton, Jr., speaking by phone from his home in Maryland.

Leighton, who lived in Springfield for 18 years, died May 25 at age 98 of pneumonia. Leighton had planned to attend the Tuskegee Airmen 34th annual convention this August. Until his death, he was thought to be the oldest surviving member of the flying unit.

Leighton served with the Army Air Corps 99th Fighter Squadron and with the 447th Bomb Group as a crew chief on B-25 bombers. Although he never saw combat, he played a key role in the success of the airmen, said Lt. Col. Bill Holloman who served in the same squadron.

"Because of his knowledge of aircraft and his proficiency in working on the aircraft, engine, and everything else, he kept our pilots flying," Holloman said, speaking by phone from his home in Kent, Wash.

Leighton's son, a supervisory special agent with the FBI and a member of the Civil Air Patrol, said his father's rich stories from his time in the military helped inspire his own interest in aviation.

Leighton also shared his stories with local students and aviation buffs. In 1998, he spoke at a University of Oregon seminar called "Come and Fly with Me: Exploring the Heritage of Flight."

Formed in 1941, the Tuskegee Airmen didn't earn their name until years later when their contributions to World War II, and toward desegregating the military, were better appreciated. Nearly 1,000 black pilots graduated from Tuskegee Army Air Field in Tuskegee, Ala., and around 14,000 others, including Leighton, were trained as support staff. It was often said that the airmen fought two wars - one against a military force overseas and the other against racism at home and abroad.

"Tuskegee stands out for what it did after the war," Leighton told the Register-Guard in 2000. "It broke down segregation."

Born in Iowa, Leighton moved to Los Angeles, where he attended Hollywood High School. After working a summer job as an extra in Douglas Fairbanks' production of "The Thief of Baghdad," Leighton served as a musician with the circus. He later worked construction, helping to build the Holland Tunnel and the Alaska-Canadian Highway.

Following his military service, Leighton worked as a chauffeur for Dore Schary, the head of RKO studios. He acquired a love of art while working for industrialist and art collector Norton Simon.

During the 1980s, Leighton and his then-girlfriend drove north from Los Angeles in search of a town they liked. They settled on Springfield, where they bought a former scouting hall and converted it into a house.

"That was typical of father," Leighton's son said. "He was somebody who did exactly what he wanted to do."

Leighton was active in the Lane County Community College Band and as a volunteer for the Springfield Museum.

Gertrude Johnson, Leighton's live-in-caretaker, remembered him as a "great person."

`He would always tell me, `The human race is one big melting pot. We are all in this together,' ' Johnson recalled. "Everyone was the same to him."