James Robertson, 78: Retired Navy and Delta pilot

By Rick Badie

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

James Robertson didn't cotton to life in a submarine. Too claustrophobic, he said. He joined the Navy and learned to fly instead.

He trained in Pensacola and spent four years in the military during the Korean War. He was assigned to the VP-49 patrol squadron,  stationed in Bermuda. He patrolled the waters in search of enemy submarines.

He got the "tough assignment," joked a son, James Douglas Robertson of  Snellville. "He  flew a big twin-engine seaplane."

"The seaplanes would come back from maneuvers and we could see them landing from the house," said Irene Robertson, his wife of 55 years. "They would taxi around the base and, when they landed, the wives would go pick up their husbands."

After the military, Mr. Robertson sought employment with a major airline. Pan Am and Eastern wouldn't give him a shot, but he found a job he wanted. In 1956, he joined Delta. After training in Atlanta, the pilot flew out of  hubs in New Jersey and Miami before he returned to the city in 1961. In 1986, he retired after a 30-year career.

"He just loved it because he felt he was closer to God up there with the remarkable sunsets and all the beauty he would see," his wife said. "He missed that when he retired."

In October,  James Frederick Robertson was diagnosed with liver cancer. He died March 8 from complications of the disease at Piedmont Mountainside Hospital in Jasper.  He was 78. A memorial service will be held at 11 a.m. Monday in the chapel of Roper Funeral Home in Jasper.

Mr. Robertson was born in Orange, N.J., but grew up in the Jersey town of Westfield. He attended Brown University for three years, where he was in the Navy Reserves. He'd received notice that at some point he would have to join his squadron on a submarine in Japan. He elected to become a naval aviation cadet instead. Mr. Robertson never regretted not completing college.

"He felt his education was with the military and Delta," his wife said. "He said that's what they gave him. He had never thought much about flying before the military. He was very satisfied with the time he spent in service."

In 1986, Mr. Robertson retired to provide opportunity at Delta for his pilot son, James. In the 1980s, the company had a nepotism policy that prevented the hiring of the younger Robertson.

"He was at the top of his career, in his mid-50s, but he sacrificially laid it all down and allowed me to be interviewed," said his son, who spent 22 years with Delta. "Fortunately, I was hired. I was thankful to him in that he was willing to sacrifice his last five years and everything else for me."

The Robertsons lived in Sandy Spring for 35 years before they settled in Bent Tree, a retirement community in Jasper.  Before his health prevented it, Mr. Robertson enjoyed golf. . He combined his love for reading and the stock market by reading investment materials.

"The ticker tape was always on," his wife said. "He was content with that."

Additional survivors include two daughters, Diane Robertson Little of Fairmount and Dawn Robertson Hartert of  Marietta; another son, William Scott Robertson of Forest Park; a sister, Joyce Lowell of Albuquerque, N.M., and five grandchildren.