He flew more than a million miles, piloted the first plane trip ever taken by Coca-Cola magnate Robert Woodruff, and toted passengers like Dwight Eisenhower, Bob Hope and Bobby Jones.

In 1952, Ralph Samuel Whitworth became Coke's first pilot and developed the global company's aviation department. He traveled the world and set benchmarks along the way: The Japanese government honored him for flying the first private jet to cross the Pacific Ocean nonstop from Los Angeles to Tokyo.

"He was one of the pioneers of corporate aviation," said Paul Amsden, who flew with Whitworth at Coke.

Before Mr. Whitworth arrived in Atlanta from his native St. Louis, Woodruff traveled only by train. And though early on Woodruff continued to reserve a private train car in case of bad weather, he always trusted Mr. Whitworth, a World War II Navy pilot.

"Through the years, we made a believer out of him," Amsden said.

Mr. Whitworth, 85, died of heart failure July 24 at Altus House Hospice. A memorial service will be held later.

He graduated from Roosevelt High School in St. Louis and earned a football scholarship to Culver-Stockton College, in Canton, Mo. His plans to become a football coach were derailed at the end of his first semester, when he enlisted in the Navy after the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.

Mr. Whitworth earned his wings in Pensacola, Fla., in 1943. His first assignment was in China. He patrolled the waters between Brazil and Africa for German submarines, losing his radio man during one mission.

After the war, Mr. Whitworth flew for emerging corporate fleets at companies such as Falstaff Brewing and Monsanto, which often converted military surplus planes into aircraft fit for captains of industry. He once joined Monsanto's CEO for dinner in Argentina with Juan and Eva Peron.

Woodruff, who'd never flown, banked on Mr. Whitworth's background and experience.

"He had tremendous respect for Ralph," said Rich Richardson, of California, a longtime friend who customized planes for companies like Coke. "He trusted him with his life."

The two became close. Woodruff often invited Mr. Whitworth to eat lunch with him in the private dining room at Coke headquarters. During flights, Woodruff sometimes called the cockpit to bet on football games.

Ferrying Woodruff and his well-known friends became, Mr. Whitworth's wife Gail said, "a dream job. He loved flying and he loved meeting different people."

He flew generations of aircraft, from DC-3 prop planes to Gulfstream jets. It was always first-class.

The planes were appointed, said Amsden, "like one of the plushest cocktail lounges you've ever been in." They included a bar, big swivel chairs, a couch that converted into a bed.

Mr. Whitworth stayed in whatever swanky hotel Woodruff stayed in. He flew golfers — Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Lee Trevino — from Augusta National after the Masters to Atlanta, or took former President Eisenhower to Woodruff's Ichauway Plantation in southwest Georgia. He often stayed at the plantation, or at Woodruff's Wyoming ranch, where he loved riding horses.

A heart attack grounded him in the early 1970s, but he remained with Coke as aviation department manager until his retirement in 1983.

Other survivors include two children, Dennis Whitworth and Barbara Whitworth, both of St. Louis; a stepson, Richard Wallace, of Atlanta; two grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.