Sky was the limit for Joe Berkely

When Joseph “Joe” Berkely was courting his future wife, Nancy Petersen, he was responsible for teaching French pilots as the lead pilot of a B-26 squadron. One day, while teaching the new French pilots how to fly in mass formation, Joe decided that he and the other 32 bombers were going to fly over to Nancy at the University of Kansas Theta house.

He alerted his co-pilot that he would be peeling away, or veering from the squadron to do so, but the other 32 bombers wound up following him. The squadron broke about 100 windows as it flew by and was asked to never return to Lawrence, Ka. Its members paid a fine of $219.17 each.

Perhaps it was low point, but Berkely reached soaring heights both in the Army Air Corps, and later, as owner of the High Plains Journal.

Berkely, a Plymouth Harbor resident, died Sept. 9. He was 97.

Born Nov. 11, 1918, in Fort Oglethorpe, Ga., he was raised on the southside of Chicago near Lake Michigan.

Two adventures in Berkely’s early years helped shape his life.

For two years, Berkely attended school in France and learned the French language while his sister studied ballet there. Later, he learned to fly at the Civilian Pilot Training Program at Valparaiso University.

Following the bombing of Pearl Harbor, he spent four years in the Army Air Corps, which took him from Chicago to Bonham, San Antonio and Harlingen, Texas.

Eventually, he ended up at the Dodge City Army Airfield as a B-26 instructor for French pilots, where he also met Nancy.

After his time in the Army Air Corps, Berkely searched for a job in Dodge City and bought the Dodge City Journal in 1945, thinking it was a 2,000 circulation weekly. He was wrong. The newspaper’s weekly circulation was just 200.

But Berkely listened to advice he got from an acquaintance. He changed the name of the paper to the High Plains Journal in 1949 and opted not to fight the local daily, instead opting to learn about and focus on farming subjects, such as cattlemen and wheat.

The High Plains Journal is still in operation. Its weekly circulation: 52,000.

When he wasn’t working, Berkely pursued his passions for nature and flying, according to his daughter, Nan Griffin. She remembers riding on her father’s shoulders in the Indiana woods while he taught her about nature. Later, the pair would fly together and admire the terrain from above.

“The appreciation of the beauty of flying above the land is just something I got from him and amazement with the clouds,” Griffin said.

In 2003, the Berkelys moved to Plymouth Harbor and made a close group of friends.

Every Sunday, he attended 8 a.m. services at All Angels by the Sea Episcopal Church, then ate breakfast with friends at Blue Dolphin Cafe. Longtime friend Nancy Gross said Berkely loved to have friends around. Jack Dennison said he never heard Berkely say a mean thing about anyone. Berkely’s daughter, Nan Griffin, said he was a supporter of everyone.

He also remained a patriot until the end, according to David Beliles, a longtime friend of Berkely.

Before his death, Berkely asked Beliles for a favor. Whenever a resident of Plymouth Harbor dies, a photograph, biography and rose is placed in the lobby.

But Berkely wanted something different.

Instead of a rose, he wanted a single American flag next to his picture. Beliles placed three flags there.

“I thought he deserved that much because he was a real patriot,” Beliles said. “He loves this country. His picture is there and his biography with the American flags, no rose.”

Berkely was preceded in death by his parents; wife, Nancy; sister Harriet Frankel; and brother, Ryan Berkely. He is survived by daughter Nan Griffin and her husband, Bob, of Myakka City; grandson, Kyle Griffin and his wife, Anne, of Trumbull, Conn.; and two great-grandchildren, Kate and Hayes.

Donations can be made to the Plymouth Harbor Foundation. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Sept. 17, at Plymouth Harbor’s MacNeil Chapel, 700 John Ringling Blvd., followed by a light lunch.