CRESWELL – Monday, May 25, was already going to be an extra-special day in Creswell.

Now they’re taking it to another level.

Hobby Field Airport Manager Shelley Humble has announced that Richard Heyman’s Celebration of Life will be held that day, which would have been Richard’s 102nd birthday, at the airport’s EAA building from 11 a.m.-1 p.m.

That celebration will coincide with the City of Creswell’s inaugural Col. Richard Heyman Day, which was announced in March by Mayor Nick Smith, who issued a proclamation Monday.

Heyman died on Jan. 25 – less than a month before he was to receive the coveted French Legion of Honor award, and precisely four months before his 102nd birthday.

Heyman served in the military for 32 years. He was a fighter pilot in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, completing 342 missions before retiring from the Air Force in May 1973. He then became an active citizen, working for the city council, writing columns for The Chronicle, and playing golf regularly until he was 99 – just to name a few.

As part of Col. Richard Heyman Day, Smith had said the city would fly all the flags on Main Street and “recognize him for all he’s done for the country and Creswell.”