ISAIAS G. ARRIAGA

Isaias Arriaga, age 90, passed away Tuesday, February 4, 2025 at the Ohio Veterans Home in

Georgetown, Ohio where he'd resided for the past year. Born July 21, 1934 in Rosebud,

Texas, he grew up with his siblings attending school, playing sports, and working seasonally

in the agricultural fields. It was there in central Texas that he met his future bride, Margaret

Nieto. They were married for more than 70 years and raised five children.

Ish entered the Air Force at age 17 and retired in 1971 after completing 20 years of service.

He flew for his entire career, beginning as a tail gunner on the B-29, then moving on to

become a boom operator in first the KC-97, and then was selected as one of the first boom

operators to fly the new jet-powered KC-135 in-flight refueling aircraft. During his military

career, he was stationed, along with his growing family, in stateside locations in Oklahoma,

Texas, Washington, Louisiana, and finally Ohio, where he was stationed at Lockbourne AFB,

from where he retired. During those years, he was deployed throughout the world, including

Spain, England, Thailand, Guam, Okinawa, Iceland, and the Philippines. He flew countless

missions over Vietnam, and received many commendations and medals for missions flown in

support of air combat operations. On one such mission, he and the crew he was serving with

was singled out for their heroic actions when they received word of a fighter jet that had

severe battle damage, and because of this damage, was leaking fuel at a rate that would force

the pilot to bail out over North Vietnam. Ish's crew flew north into heavily defended enemy

territory, and managed to refuel the stricken fighter aircraft, and when it became obvious he

was leaking as much fuel as he was taking in, Ish and their KC-135 stayed hooked up to the

fighter aircraft, "dragging" him all the way back to his base, only disconnecting from the

stricken aircraft on short final approach to landing.

Ish was raised in a good Christian home, and always set an example for his children to

follow. He made sure the first thing his family did during these many moves was to find and

become involved in a good, godly church. He served faithfully and was chosen to become an

ordained deacon. He was a principled man, yet never boasted of himself. When a Louisiana

pastor stated from the pulpit that he himself would stand in the doorway of the church to

prevent any person of color, and those were not the words that he used, from entering the

church, the following Sunday Ish and his family visited and eventually joined another

church, where great strides for Christ were being made.

Ish loved playing fast pitch softball, and led his squadron team to many base championships

with him as pitcher. After retiring from the Air Force, he continued playing well into his

60's, and enjoyed organizing weekend softball tournaments.

Family meant everything to him. No one was prouder of his children's accomplishments than

Ish. He managed to attend all of their sporting events and encouraged them to just do their

best in all things. He showed them what it meant to be a good parent and what true love

looks like when it comes to their spouse. He was never happier than when his family was all

together. His children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren brought him so much joy and

he was proud of all of them.

Ish was preceeded in death by his parents, Felix and Nicolasa, and his brothers Candelario,

Eleazar and Alfred, and his sisters, Hermilinda, Luz Marquez and Naomi Vaca. He is

survived by his wife Margaret, sons Isaias Jr. (Karen), Steven (Carolyn), David (Nanette),

and Philip (Paula), and daughter Rachel Sutherland. Additionally, he is survived by his

grandchildren Marisa (Daniel) Dehaan, Sylvia (Christopher) Brady, Alex, Dan, Maggie,

Danielle, Michelle, David Jr. (Colleen), Jeromy (Kristina) Clark, Jonathan (Elizabeth) Clark,

Joseph, Michael (Tawny) Sutherland, and 21 great-grandchildren. He is also survived by his

brothers Eliseo (Julia), and Daniel (Katrina), and his sister Belia (Moses) Vaca.

Family will receive friends from 3-5:00 p.m. on Sunday, February 9, 2025 at Myers-Woodyard

Funeral Home, 587 Main St. Groveport, Ohio 43125. The funeral service will be

Monday, February 10, 2025 at 11:00 a.m. at Myers-Woodyard Funeral Home, Groveport,

Ohio.