Kanawha County officials honored the late Benny Mallory Saturday. Flags at the courthouse and West Virginia International Yeager Airport were lowered to half-staff. Mallory was a veteran, an award-winning pilot and the founder of Mallory Airport in South Charleston.

The Mallory Airport hosted a memorial gathering Saturday, remembering its humble beginnings dating back to 1954, when Mallory retuned to West Virginia after serving as a Marine to build a dirt airstrip on family property. The facility eventually developed into a paved airport with 50 aircrafts.

The Kanawha County Commission issued a resolution honoring the late pilot and presented it to family members in a memorial service. Mallory’s “contributions to the community will continue to live on with the pilots he trained and the lives that he touched,” the resolution said. “Benny Mallory will be remembered as a local pioneer whose dedication helped to form the strong aviation community that will continue as a tradition in Kanawha County for generations to come.”

Mallory died Monday at age 91 after an illustrious career in aviation. He got his start in Kanawha County, learning to fly in the Spring Hill area. He trained more than 40,000 pilots in his lifetime.

Mallory accrued more than 35,000 hours of airtime and was presented with the Wright Brothers Award after half a century of safe flying. He also received the Charles Taylor Award for outstanding maintenance for aircraft.