Sumner Atherton

Captain Sumner Edward Atherton Jr (May 23, 1916 - September 6, 1975) was a US Naval Reserve pilot who was awarded, as a lieutenant, the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions during World War II.
Early life and education
He was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Sumner Edward Atherton Sr. (1878-1952) and Maude E. Wheelock. His family operated a dairy farm in Colebrook, New Hampshire.
Atherton attended grade school in West Lebanon, New Hampshire, and graduated from West Lebanon High School in 1934, and the University of New Hampshire with honors in 1938. He went on to graduate from the Naval School of Aeronautics at Naval Air Station Pensacola.
Career
He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for actions during World War II. Atherton's efforts were recorded in The New York Times on July 25, 1942:
A log capturing his exchanges with the enemy over the Pacific during September 1942 have been preserved in historical records.
He was honored again the following year as one of New Hampshire’s outstanding war heroes.
Later years
At the end of the war he managed Lebanon Municipal Airport in New Hampshire from 1950 to 1969, initially as Assistant Manager, then Airport Manager. His company, Connecticut Valley Airways, held an initial 20-year lease to operate the airport from 1947. Records show that he was sole company director. By 1964, Northeast Airlines was operating direct one-stop service to New York John F. Kennedy Airport with four-engine Douglas DC-6B propliners via Keene. By the time Atherton retired in 1969, Northeast was operating up to ten flights a day from the airport with Fairchild Hiller FH-227 turboprop aircraft, with nonstop service to New York LaGuardia Airport (LGA), Boston (BOS), Montpelier/Barre (MPV), Manchester, NH (MHT) and Keene, NH (EEN), with daily direct one-stop service to Burlington (BTV).
Personal
He married Martha Kennard in Pensacola, Florida, on September 30, 1939, and had five children.
Death
He died on September 6, 1975 in Sarasota, Florida, aged 59, and is buried at West Lebanon Cemetery in New Hampshire.
Ancestry
His family came from New Hampshire. The Atherton family ancestry is from Lancashire, England. He is a direct descendant of James Atherton, who arrived in Dorchester, Massachusetts, in the 1630s.

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