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Company
Elliott Aviation
by Lance Phillips
Chronicles
They say that adaptation to change and an ability to grow through adversity are the qualities that make people and companies successful. When something has been able to not only survive but thrive for nearly 90 years, it means they’ve checked the adap- tation and growth-through-adversity boxes throughout that time. In 1936, the world had not yet entered into war and the United States was starting to feel some relief after years of the Great Depression. This time period shaped many people’s lives. Those who were able to adapt and grow were lean, hardened and didn’t suffer the ines- sential. Those who were able to adapt together as a team were unbeatable.
Herbert Roscoe Elliott, Jr. was born to parents Herbert Sr. and Ida Mae
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on July 3, 1915, in a little town on the western border of Iowa called Kingsley. The family later moved to the other side of the state, where Herb gradu- ated from Davenport High School, situated along the Illinois River. He had saved enough while playing in a local band to buy an airplane for $350. Soon enough there was an opportu- nity to start a business, in aviation no less. Herb founded Elliott Flying Ser- vice at Cram Field in Davenport and hired Arlene Stoltenberg, his girlfriend from high school who he had met in 1933, as the bookkeeper. Arlene was also bitten by the aviation bug. She soloed in a Piper Cub in 1936 and was later licensed.
Herb Elliott was a proud military airman, but he was also interested in starting a family. He married Arlene,
who was originally from Plainview, Iowa, on May 20, 1939. The team was solidified.
As the United States entered the war after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Herb and Arlene repositioned south to Bonham, Texas, close to the Oklahoma border, where Herb served as a civil- ian flight instructor for the Army Air Corps. He later transitioned to the U.S. Air Force ferrying aircraft all over the world. While living in Tex- as, their daughter Pamela Sue joined the Elliott team.
After the war, Herb and Arlene, with their new baby Pam, returned to Davenport and resumed business at Cram Field’s grass strip. Arlene joined Elliott Flying Service in 1946 as full-time bookkeeper, receptionist and scheduler. The team expanded