Hubert Huntington

Hubert in 1932

Hubert Samuel Huntington (1904-08-17 – 1980-10-25) was my matrimaternal great-uncle, the eldest child of Robert Huntington and Martha Martin. Born in Medford, Massachusetts, he died in La Jolla, California aged 76. He married but had no children.

He was presumably named after his paternal uncle Hubert Frederick Huntington.

His WW2 registration in 1942 describes him as light complexion, brown hair, brown eyes, 5’8½”, and 185 lbs.⁠^{⟮1⟯Fold3$}

Career

Hubert c.1927

Hubert was a pilot and navigator of small planes, and also taught aviation.⁠^⟮2⟯ He worked internationally.

In 1927⁠^⟮3⟯, he founded the Avigation School of America, quartered at 757 Broadway, New York City. The first word, derived from “air navigation”, was allegedly his own coinage.⁠^⟮4⟯ The school offered both in-person and correspondence courses.⁠^⟮5⟯

In 1944, he was awarded the Netherlands Flying Cross, along with two other American pilots, for flying the commanding officer of the Dutch East Indies Air Force safely to Java after the 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.⁠^⟮6⟯ The officer in question, Ludolph Hendrik van Oyen (1889–1953), had been at Pearl Harbor on Air Force business and witnessed the attack.⁠^⟮7⟯

Hubert and Bernice

Marriage

Hubert married Polish-born Bernice Page (born Bronisława Polakowski; 1906-12-08 – 1998-06-04) on 1940-03-23 in New York City. She was the widow of Rudolph Dragonetti (1906-08-29 – 1929-07-04), who died barely six months into their marriage.