For Joann Young, the sky was never the limit. It was a place of adventure, freedom and cherished memories shared with her late husband, Moon Young.
When Joann died on Oct. 12, 2026, her family knew there was one final wish they wanted to fulfill. The longtime Cleveland resident and aviation enthusiast had asked for a flyover at her funeral, a fitting tribute to a woman whose love of flying had been such an important part of her life.
That wish was granted when three pilots from Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) Chapter 1698 at Cleveland Municipal Airport performed a missing man formation over Cleveland Cemetery on Peach Street during her funeral service.
The aerial tribute came together at the last minute, thanks to the efforts of local aviators who understood what the gesture would mean to the Young family.
Joann’s son, Jeff Young, recalled the moment the aircraft approached the cemetery.
The funeral home had just placed her casket beneath the cemetery awning when the planes appeared overhead. The service paused as mourners stepped out to watch the formation pass above them.
For Jeff, it was a moment his mother would have appreciated.
“It was like she was reminding us, ‘Look up at the sky. That’s where hope is,'” he said.
The three pilots who participated were Dustin Newell, Andy Miller and J.P. Gruslin, all members of EAA Chapter 1698. Newell also serves as the chapter’s Young Eagles coordinator, helping introduce children to aviation through free flights.
A missing man formation is an aerial salute traditionally performed to honor deceased aviators. During the tribute, one aircraft breaks away from the formation, symbolizing the loss of a fellow pilot.
For the Young family, the tribute represented much more than a ceremonial farewell. It was a reminder of the role aviation had played in their parents’ lives and in the history of Cleveland itself.
Moon Young, who died Sept. 6, 2003, was a celebrated photographer whose work documented decades of change throughout Cleveland and the surrounding area. His photographs, many dating to the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, remain a valuable historical record of the community.
However, photography was only part of his legacy.
Moon was also an accomplished pilot who earned his private pilot’s license in part to expand his photography into the skies. He began taking aerial photographs, combining two of his greatest interests.
Moon and Joann were also among the core group of aviation enthusiasts involved in establishing Cleveland Municipal Airport around 1978. Their contributions were so significant that, following Moon’s death, the street leading into the airport was named Moon Young Way in his honor. According to Darren Britton, whose father, Richard Britton, was also involved in the local aviation community, the designation was made during the tenure of then-City Manager Jim Thompson.
Aviation became a shared passion for the couple, and Joann eventually decided to earn her own pilot’s license.
She initially began taking flying lessons so she could safely land an airplane if Moon, who had experienced heart problems, ever became incapacitated while flying.
What began as a practical precaution soon became something she loved in her own right. At age 52, Joann earned her private pilot’s license in 1984.
At her funeral, Jeff recalled a story that demonstrated both his mother’s skill as a pilot and his father’s pride in her accomplishments. During her flight training, Joann was practicing touch-and-go landings, a maneuver in which a pilot lands an aircraft and immediately takes off again without coming to a complete stop.
Moon was standing near the taxiway with a friend from Kingwood, watching the aircraft come and go. The friend noticed the pilot making particularly smooth landings and remarked that the man flying the plane really knew what he was doing.
According to their son, Moon proudly corrected him.
“That’s not a man. That’s my wife,” Moon reportedly said.
The friend was impressed enough to suggest that perhaps she could share a few pointers when she landed.
Another family memory involved a brand-new Cessna 152 that the couple purchased. Joann traveled with other pilots to Kansas, where the aircraft had been manufactured, and helped fly it home.
At one point during the trip, she got off course, but with assistance from the other pilots, she regained her bearings and safely completed the flight.
“I was never so happy to see my mother,” Jeff said after his mother’s late arrival in Cleveland.
Joann Young also participated in the aviation tradition of having her shirttail cut off after completing her first solo flights, a custom that marks a student pilot’s achievement.
For years, the couple enjoyed flying together, creating memories that remained important to Joann long after Moon’s death.
Joann had been receiving hospice care since March, giving her family time to reflect on her life and the things that mattered most to her. Among those was her desire for a final aerial tribute.
Darren Britton and his father, Richard, both pilots, helped connect the family with members of the local aviation community. Newell then coordinated the pilots who would carry out the missing man formation.
The Youngs are survived by their two sons, Wes Young of Thicket and Jeff Young of Humble.
For the family, the flyover was a fitting farewell to a woman who had helped build Cleveland’s aviation community alongside her husband and who never lost her love for the skies.
It was exactly the kind of goodbye Joann Young had wanted.