HAL DARR 1947 - 1955 FOUNDER, PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD DEN FATHER-IN-LAW OF BOARD MEMBER JOE WAGNER Sunliner News Vol. 4 - #7 (June 1955) Hal S. Darr - former President of FL dies of heart attack. -The Internet (6/21/99) Sunliner News Vol. 2 - #5 (April 1953) Hal S. Darr, FL's president and Chairman of Board also operates the Marana Army Air Force Base near Tucson. His company, Darr Aero Tech, also operated training bases for the Army during World War II. These were located in Georgia and Oklahoma. His Marana AF Base was built from scratch as a result of the Korean War of 1950. He has 850 employees, 800 civilians and 50 military on the base. It has 32 buildings to prepare military pilots in primary and basic training. The flight school has 30 Piper Cubs and 156 AT-6s for use during the six month course at Marana before going on to jet schooling elsewhere. -The Internet (6/21/99) HAL S. DARR OBITUARY HAL S. DARR, PIONEER IN AVIATION, DIES Hal S. Darr, who died Tuesday, was an aviation industry pioneer and Executive Committee Chairman for Frontier Airlines Inc., Denver, Colo. Mr. Darr, 61, of 3001 Normandy, Evanston, died of a heart attack in the Lake Shore Club. He was President of Darr Aero Tech Inc., a Tucson (Ariz.) aviation school, and the Darr Equipment Co. of Dallas, Tex. He was also a founder of the Forest Park (Ill.) National Bank. Services will be held Saturday in Storm Lake, Iowa where his mother, Mrs. Margaret P. Darr, resides. Surviving, besides his mother, are his widow, Louise; two daughters, Mrs. Janet Engstrom and Mrs. Mary Wagner, both of Dallas, and six grandchildren. Chicago Daily News June 23, 1955 Sent by Ken Schultz (3/30/00) Hal Darr died June 21, 1955 in Chicago, IL at age 61. He was Monarch's second president and Frontier's first president. He was born in 1894 and started work at Monarch on Feb. 10, 1947. -Ken Schultz Database (8/8/03) Posted at the FL Club: Subject: Updated memorial webpage HAL DARR 1947 - 1953 PRESIDENT DEN http://FAL-1.tripod.com/Hal_Darr.html I found several more items about the first FL president. -Jake Lamkins (5/11/10) FLacebook - FL Club FLight West: Hal Darr DEN founder and president Hal Darr's memorial webpage has been updated: http://FAL-1.tripod.com/Hal_Darr.html Contrary to popular belief, Ray Wilson did not form Frontier Airlines. Hal Darr, president of Monarch at the time, put the deal together. Ray was a Monarch vice president and not a key player. -Jake Lamkins (5/6/16) I was curious about the history and the idea behind making a website for my great-grandpa, Hal Darr. I had come across it before when doing some research on, but revisited the website again today after my grandpa's obituary was published. Look forward to speaking with you soon -Austin DeSico 12/19/18 Hi Austin, Great hearing from Hal's great-grandson. I worked for Frontier from 1964 until 1986 when it bankrupted. I've become an unofficial historian of our bunch in the past 20 years and have done a lot of work on the internet with it. There are over 1600 other memorial webpages like Hal's posted at our website along with a tremendous amount of Frontier history. Let me know if you have anything you wish to add to the webpage. -Jake Lamkins (12/19/18) Hi Austin, Since my last email I've discovered that your grandfather, Joe Wagner, also worked at Frontier and I have started work on a memorial webpage for him too. Attached is an Apr 1958 article about him. Email me anything you wish added to his webpage. -Jake Lamkins (1/10/19) That is great. Thank you, Jake. -Austin DeSico (1/10/19) FLacebook - FL Club FLight West: Joe Wagner DEN board of director member Joe Wagner's memorial webpage is posted at http://FAL-1.tripod.com/Joe_Wagner.html Joe was the son-in-law of Frontier founder Hal Darr. He left the board in 1959 when new owner Bud Maytag brought in his people. His grandson and Hal's great-grandson recently contacted me. -Jake Lamkins (1/14/19) FLacebook FLIGHT WEST UPDATED Frontier Memorial Webpage HAL DARR 1947 - 1955 FOUNDER, PRESIDENT AND CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD DEN http://FAL-1.tripod.com/Hal_Darr.html He was the true founder of Frontier Airlines, not Ray Wilson who founded Monarch Airlines then turned it over to Hal in Mar 1947 due to financial difficulties. Ray was vp-operations afterwards. Hal was Frontier's Chairman of the Board when he flew west. -Jake Lamkins (2/18/23)