In a 1975 interview he explained how his interest in flying developed, “A fellow named Jim Lewis was working for me. He bought a plane and I was his first student”
After two years as a commercial pilot in Columbia, Missouri, Valentin returned to Marion to open his airport.
At first the airport was located on 100 acres on the southeast corner of then Route 13, now Main Street, and Old Creal Springs Road.
The hanger building was originally built as the garage of the Egyptian Transportation System, a pioneer bus system that later became Greyhound. Today, the hanger building is the main building of Fabick Machinery.
H. E. Barber came to Marion early in the century to run the Marion & Eastern Railroad which ran to Pittsburg. Later he founded Egyptian Transportation System before turning his attention to aviation.
Barber turned the garage into a hanger and made it the headquarters for the Universal Aviation flying school.
After Universal Aviation withdrew Valentin started Valentin Flying Service to train pilots.
Later in life, Valentin estimated that 1,500 pilots were trained at the Marion field. Many became fighter pilots during World War II.
The Marion airport opened May 27, 1928. The Marion Daily Republican reported that several thousand persons attended the opening. “Crowds poured out to the field from early morning until late at night and several hundred took advantage of the opening for a trip into the skies, although that there were only four planes on the field proved disappointing to the large crowd.
Six years later in October, 1934, when the airport was under Valentin’s management, a second dedication took place with Gov. Henry Horner. Scores of planes were on hand for the crowd, and state federal military and civil aviation authorities took part.
In a 1970s column, former MDR city editor Homer Butler recalled that “crowds jammed the area about the speakers stand as the governor described the Illinois program which had culminated in establishment of 11 airports in the state, including the one at Marion.
In the early days of aviation people saw planes as more than the common form of transportation as they are today.
“We used to give 50-cent rides to get people interested in flying,” Valentin said in Butler’s column, “And a lot of boys, and girls too, saved their money to take flying lessons. People used to drive out to the field to watch the planes take off and land.”
In another interview in another newspaper in 1975, Valentine remembered, “There’s no telling how many passengers I’ve hopped. It used to be the major part of our business. There were $5 to $10 flights and down to $1 and 50-cent flights,” recalled Valentin, “We even had penny-a-pound flights”
When the Marion airport was developing, business and professional men and persons employed in the various crafts worked with shovels helping build cinder-surfaced runways and donated money in amounts from $5 to $500 to finance the venture.
Valentin also started the first air ambulance service in Southern Illinois, as well as the first air mail service.
On March 22, 1935, famous aviator Amelia Earhart visited the airfield and complimented Valentin on his field.
On May 19, 1938, during National Air Mail Week, Valentin flew 3,500 letters from Marion to St. Louis.
The demand for a bigger field finally brought about the end to the Marion airport on the east edge of the city.
By 1939, Valentin bought 180 acres west of Marion halfway to Herrin at the site of the present airport At the time New Route 13 was just a proposal.
With the help of Southern Illinois Normal University, Valentin started Civilian Pilot Training program in December 1939. During the war it became the War Training Service.
During the war, the site was used as an auxiliary field for training, until April 15, 1944, when Valentin officially moved all operations to the current site.
The new airport name was Macarin; MA for Marion, CA for Carterville and RIN for Herrin.”
(Article written by Jon Musgrave for 1995 Marion Daily Republican History Progress Edition, photos from same edition and Williamson County Historical Society)