January 17, 1995 – March 30, 2022
Lt. Hyrum Jacob Hanlon died in a Navy plane crash off the coast of Virginia near Wallops Island and Chincoteague at approximately 7:30 p.m. on March 30, 2022. He was 27 years old.
A member of the Carrier Airborne Early Warning Squadron 120 (VAW-120) at Naval Station Norfolk, Hyrum was training to pilot the E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, a twin-engine turboprop aircraft with a 24-foot radar rotodome above its fuselage, used for surveillance and communications.
Hyrum was born at Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage, Alaska on January 17, 1995 to Jim and Priscilla Hanlon.
His earliest memory, he said, was “looking with amazement on snowy mountains from an airplane window.” His grandpa, Samuel Richards, encouraged his interest in aviation and military service, taking him to airshows at Elmendorf Airforce Base. As a young child, his hero was Buzz Lightyear, and he dreamed of space exploration.
Hyrum was dedicated to physical fitness. He taught himself how to swim while vacationing in Hawaii at age five. When he was only six, he finished a 26-mile hike (Crow Pass) with his dad. He hiked the entire way except for being carried across Eagle River, which flows from a nearby glacier. He would later run marathons as an adult.
Hyrum attended Northern Lights ABC elementary school in Anchorage through the third grade, when his family moved to Snowflake, Arizona. The move was difficult for him, but in Arizona he made close lifelong friends.
Hyrum was a member of the inaugural class of recruits in the Eastern Mountain Young Marines in 2007.
For his Eagle Scout project, he repaired a concrete water catchment for wildlife and livestock in the Sitgreaves National Forest. Although he completed all the requirements, he never earned the Eagle award because he did not want to complete the paperwork!
In high school, he played mid-field on the varsity soccer team and ran long-distance in track.
In 2011, he paid half his way to attend the U.S. Naval Academy Summer Seminar in Annapolis, Maryland. This was a major turning point for him. He returned from the experience determined to join the Navy and motivated to double down on academics and to take as many classes as he could instead of graduating early.
He always enjoyed school. The summer before high school, he started taking dual enrollment courses at Northland Pioneer College, for which he earned both high school and college credit. He graduated third in the Class of 2013 from Snowflake High School.
Hyrum attended Arizona State University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering with a focus in astronautics. Engineering did not come easy to him, as his strengths were in language arts and social studies, but he wanted to challenge himself. He received a $30,000 scholarship from the Johnson Family Foundation at ASU and another scholarship through the Naval ROTC.
While living on campus, he made a tight-knit group of friends with his roommates and neighboring classmates.
Upon graduating in 2017, Hyrum was commissioned into the U.S. Navy as an Ensign on May 10, 2017. He reported to Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida for Aviation Preflight Indoctrination. Hyrum then reported for Primary Flight Training at NAS Whiting Field in August 2018 with Training Squadron Six (VT-6) where he flew the T-6 Texan II; the Navy’s primary single engine trainer. Upon selection into the Navy’s E2/C2 program, Hyrum transferred to NAS Corpus Christi, Texas in June 2019 where he began Intermediate Flight Training with the training squadron VT-31 flying the T-44 Pegasus multi-engine training aircraft. Hyrum then reported to NAS Kingsville, Texas in October 2019 to complete Advanced Flight Training with VT-22 in the T-45 Goshawk single-seat jet trainer. On December 13th 2020, He successfully completed his carrier landing qualifications on board the USS Gerald R. Ford.
Hyrum received his “Wings of Gold”, officially becoming a Naval Aviator, on December 17, 2020. He was then assigned to the E2 Hawkeye and began training on that aircraft in Norfolk, Virginia. He was nearing the end of his training with VAW-120 and being assigned to an operational squadron.
Hyrum was a well-rounded Renaissance man who pursued excellence and self-mastery. He was outgoing and gregarious, but also liked reading, science and history. He was both restless and disciplined, tough, goofy and joyful. He played piano and dabbled in painting. But mostly, Hyrum loved to spend time with his friends, whom he loved deeply. He worked hard, played hard, and lived life to its fullest.
Hyrum is survived by his parents, Jim and Priscilla; his siblings Saera Uí Chearnaigh (Deóis Ua Cearnaigh), Krista (Ryan) Slone, James (Katherine), Bryan (Rachel) and Isaiah; his grandmother, Mildred Richards; his nieces and nephews Riley, Samantha, Madalyn and Séadanda; and many cousins, aunts, uncles and friends.
He is preceded in death by his grandparents John Hanlon, Samuel Richards, and Ross and Martha Lindgren; and his sister, Desree.
A secular funeral will be held at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 14 at the Holiday Inn & Suites Phoenix Airport ballroom at 3220 S. 48th Street in Phoenix. A religious funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, April 15 at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints at 10036 E. Brown Road in Mesa, Arizona. The burial, with military rites, will follow at Mountain View Cemetery 7900 East Main Street in Mesa.
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