Harry Elegreet (1926 — September 19, 2020)

It is with great sadness I report that Harry Elegreet passed away on Saturday 19 September 2020 at the age of 94. Harry was our senior member of the Lobo Wing who participated in the formation of our wing in the 1980s. He was also the Lobo Wings last WWII veteran, having flown bombing missions out of Shemya, Alaska to Japan as a B-24 Liberator crewmember.

After the war, Harry went on to a career with Union Carbide in Manhattan, NY. Upon his retirement he moved to Albuquerque with his wife Sally and very shortly after he joined the Confederate Air Force (yes, Confederate Air Force because that’s who we were in the beginning). Harry soon took on the task of writing the Lobo Wing newsletter called the Talewind. His writings and cartoons were legendary within the wing and even garnered some notoriety at HQ. He wrote a great article that gained a lot of attention at HQ called “What do I get for my money?”. This article explained why someone should be joining the CAF and was used for a number of years for recruiting new members.

Harry also loved his cars. Over the years he had a series of many different cars, buying and selling several. Until recently he had a beautiful Mercedes Benz sports car. He told me he had to get rid of it because his younger friends couldn’t get in and out of it! So he bought a Lexus. He also had a 36 Ford Coupe, powered by Chevy of course. Earlier this year he asked if I wanted a ride and of course I said yes. Can you imagine cruising down Tramway in a hotrod with a 94 year old driver? It was great!

I’ve spent a little extra time writing about Harry for a couple of reasons. Most of you probably didn’t know Harry and that’s a shame. He was a character with a great sense of humor and a true gentleman. The other reason is because, in accordance with his wishes, he did not want an obituary or funeral service. That’s just the way Harry was.

Dave