Capt. Ivan "Ike" Battern

4/17/25 - 12/4/11

Capt. Ike Battern grew up in the Quad Cities of Illinois and Iowa. When World War II started, he entered the Marine Corps when he was only 16. Ike served in American Samoa, the Wallis Island Group, Abemama and Tarawa. In this photo, he is seen in the Wallis Island Group, 1942, age 17. After the war, Ike attended the Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, OK. After graduation, he dusted crops in Oklahoma and Texas. He was hired as a pilot by Pan American World Airlines. Due to airline realignments, he flew for various airlines including Eastern Airlines, Trans Ocean and USOA.

In 1955, Ike was hired by Seaboard and retired from Flying Tigers 29 years later in 1984. There is a photo of Ike in his Seaboard uniform here.

In 1971, Ike purchased the then-unused Barrett Airport in Canadensis, PA, restored it, and renamed it the Flying Dollar Airport. At the Flying Dollar, he restored many airplanes and was known in the area by both locals and tourists for his aerobatic rides. He is seen here with an open-cockpit Great Lakes biplane, the sort of airplane he loved most. In this photo, he is flying a Waco.

Capt. Ike Battern is survived by his wife, the former Andrea J. Cerar; sons Michael F. Battern of Cleveland, MO, Ivan L. Battern Jr. of Miramar, FL; daughter, Jessica Battern McCormick of Tallahassee, FL; 6 grandchildren and 3 great-grandchildren. He was predeceased by his first wife, Nola E. Federlien, the mother of Michael and Ivan Jr.