Dedicated to Friends, Past and Present

Roscoe D. Morton
December 10, 1931 - June 15, 2013

Obituary​

Roscoe D. Morton passed away of heart failure June 15, 2013 at his residencein Frostproof, Florida. He was born December 10, 1931 in Elk Falls, Kansas, and began his aviation career by soloing in 1947 at the age 15. He was a United States Air Force veteran of the Korean Conflict, a flight instructor, agricultural and executive pilot, was three times Captain of the U.S. aerobatics team, which all led to his airline career beginning in 1959 with Southern Airways. A former chief pilot and check airman, Roscoe retired as a Boeing 747 International Captain. He was the long-time lead voice of the EM's summer celebrations, and his life story in aviation earned him honors as the "essence of EM." He was the Chairman of the Announcers for the EM, and he also announced for Airventure at Rockford and Oshkosh, Wisconsin. He was also Chairman of the Announcers at Sun'N'Fun in Lakeland, Florida, and was a member of its Board of Directors. Roscoe received many awards over the years and announced at many events in the United States, Canada, Europe and Australia. He loved his work as an announcer and interviewing aviation performers and personalities because the dialogs helped audiences appreciate what aviators do. His aviation announcing role evolved over 50 years, moved forward by requests from well-known performers for him to call their shows. He also recounted how AirVenture has grown from "a small fly-in to the world's largest aviation event." Survivors include his wife of 11 years, Virginia "Jinny" Morton ; son, Roscoe J. and Wife, Lisa Morton of Commerce, MI; sister, Suzanne M. Wyatt of Fort Worth, TX; and three grandchildren, Taylor, Madison and Will. Funeral services were held on June 20, 2013 at the Elk Falls Methodist Church with interment at the Elk Falls Cemetery under the direction of Countryside-Zimmerman Funerai Home. Marion Nelson Funeral Home in Frostproof is handling the local arrangements. Condolences may be sent to the family at www.marionnelsonfuneralhome.com. Published in Ledger from June 19 to June 20, 2013.