Stephen M. Treacy, WWII pilot

At the end of the Second World War, one of the first victoriousAmerican military men to set foot in Japan was fighter pilot StephenM. Treacy, who landed his P-51 Mustang near a Japanese airfield justdays after the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki.

Mr. Treacy, 79, who died at his home in Tuscon July 28, laterbecame a successful Chicago executive in the flour milling business.

But first he had to get through the war as an Army Air Corps pilotwhose job escorting bombers to Japan often involved 14-hour flights,at the end of which he had to be lifted from the airplane, unable towalk from hours sitting in the cramped cockpit.

Mr. Treacy almost didn't make it into the air. At first hiseyesight kept him from being accepted, so he went to Canada andjoined the air force there, shifting back to the U.S. Army Air Corpsafter requirements were changed.

"He was destined to become a pilot," said his son, Stephen Jr.

He rose to the rank of lieutenant and was credited with shootingdown 2 1/2 planes. He flew escort duty around the USS Missouri duringthe formal signing of the Japanese surrender on Sept. 2, 1945.

After the war, Mr. Treacy was offered the opportunity to be a testpilot for the new generation of jet aircraft. He declined. "I hadjust spent too many hours crammed in that tiny cockpit, flying overwater," he said.

He never flew a plane again.

He returned to his native Minnesota and attended the University ofMinnesota, where he was captain of the golf team and a member of ChiPsi fraternity.

He spent his entire career in the flour milling business, movingto Chicago in 1965, where he joined Archer Daniels Midland as vicepresident for sales. Mr. Treacy lived in Wilmette and retired in1985.

He was an avid golfer, with a passion for the Bears and Notre Damefootball. Two years ago he moved with his wife to a home on the fifthhole of the Green Course at Tuscon National Golf Club.

Survivors include his wife, Rosalie; sons Stephen Jr., Timothy,Mike and Pat; daughters Mary, Ann and Lisa; sisters Mary Turner, PatGreen, and Peggy Greer; brother William, and 15 grandchildren.

Services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at St. Francis CatholicChurch, Wilmette. Burial will be at All Saints Cemetery with areception following at the North Shore Country Club in Glenview.