Herbert G Gelhardt III, 96, of Tryon passed away peacefully on December 21, 2025. Known as Herb to his friends, he was born in Queens, New York on January 7, 1929 to Herbert and Mildred Gelhardt. Herb attended the Riverside Military School in Gainesville, Georgia as a young boy, and later went to Storm King Military School, near West Point, NY. Upon his high school graduation, Herb attended Champlain College and ultimately the University of Maryland. Always fascinated by aviation, he and his best friend Dan pitched in together and purchased their first airplane, a 1928 Fleet Biplane, while still in school, and proceeded to fly it up and down the East Coast on several adventures.

Upon his college graduation, Herb entered Navy flight training, advancing from flying SNJ Trainers to first line fighters like the Hellcat and Bearcat, then moving on to the very first jet fighter, the F80 Shooting Star and finally the F9F Panther. Upon his graduation from flight training he was given the opportunity to fly for the US Marine Corps, and quickly found himself in the Korean War. Because Herb was among only a few Marine jet-qualified pilots, he had the assignment of flying a large number of Panthers from their transport aircraft carrier to their air base, which yielded no less than eight belly landings (due to a sea spray corrosion problem as was later discovered). So not all of Herb’s landings were smooth.

After the war, Herb went back to the University of Maryland and graduated with a civil engineering degree, specializing in concrete admixtures. Herb did business and resided overseas in Japan, Hong Kong, Manila, Spain, Belgium, Canada, Guatemala and finally in the USA.

In addition to his wife Ernestine, he is survived by his three sons, Grant, Mark and Rob and their families.

A Celebration of Life will be held this spring for his family and friends.