John Franklin Auer

John Franklin Auer 

October 14, 1931 - September 26, 2026

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John was a pilot and flight instructor and owned several airplanes over the years.

John Franklin Auer passed away on September 26, 2026, at the age of 94, following a short battle with lung cancer.

John was born and raised in Canton, Ohio. He graduated from Canton McKinley High School, where he was a member of the swim team, beginning a lifelong love of swimming and physical activity. He went on to attend The Ohio State University, graduating with a degree in accounting.

John spent 31 years working for the Timken Company in Canton before retiring in 1985. However, retirement certainly didn’t mean slowing down. In many ways, it simply gave him more time to pursue the things he loved.

For much of the next 41 years, John lived a life that would have been considered unusually active for someone decades younger. He was an avid windsurfer and snow skier and enjoyed golf, bicycling and swimming. Until just three months before his death, a typical day might include an 18- to 20-mile bicycle ride or a one-mile swim, along with two hours working out at the YMCA. Staying active wasn’t something John talked much about—it was simply the way he lived.

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What began as John’s passion for flying has now continued through three generations of the Auer family.

Another lifelong passion was aviation. John was a pilot and flight instructor and owned several airplanes over the years. His love of flying became part of his legacy. Both of his sons, John and Bill, became pilots, and two grandsons, Billy and Regis, are making aviation their career. Billy owns St. Pete Air, which includes a flight school, aircraft rental, aircraft maintenance, an avionics shop, and Tampa Bay Air Charter. Regis is also a flight instructor with plans for a career in aviation. What began as John’s passion for flying has now continued through three generations of the Auer family.

John shared most of his life with his wife, Polly Ann Auer. They were married for 67 years before Polly passed away on September 23, 2020. Together they raised their family and built a life whose influence continues through their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Perhaps the best measure of John’s life is how much of him can still be seen in the generations that follow him. His sons and grandchildren share his commitment to remaining physically active. They also inherited something less visible but equally important: his strong work ethic, his sense of personal responsibility and his belief in living within one’s means. These weren’t lessons John needed to lecture about. They were values he demonstrated through the way he lived his own life.

John is survived by his two sons, John (Sheila) and Bill; five grandchildren, Billy (Juliet), Austin (Michelle), Meredith (Theo), John and Regis (Lacee), and four great-grandchildren, Charli, Grayson, Emmett and Eli.

John lived 94 years with remarkable independence, energy and purpose. He worked hard, stayed active, pursued the things he loved and set an example that continues to influence his family. His legacy isn’t simply in what he accomplished during his lifetime, but in the qualities and passions that live on in his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

He will be deeply missed, but the example he set will remain with his family for generations to come.