He flew three presidents.

He flew Democrats and Republicans.

Robert (Bob) Klingenbeck, 84, flew for his country and last Thursday he took a final flight home after passing away at Medical Center Enterprise.

Area veterans, friends and family members attended his funeral mass Oct. 24 at St. John Catholic Church in Enterprise. Following the service, he was laid to rest at Meadowlawn Cemetery.

A World War II veteran, he retired from the military after 20 years of service and later retired in Enterprise as a test pilot at Fort Rucker. He served as a presidential pilot for Dwight D. Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson during his illustrious military career.

Life in retirement was not a dull one for Klingenbeck. He had a tradition of dining at Cutts restaurant in Enterprise every weekday, with a group of friends and retired pilots.

Known as “The Breakfast Club” the men would gather each morning for breakfast, conversation and an opportunity to share stories from their past.

Last week, when Klingenbeck had missed the breakfast gathering for several days in a row, Janet Downing, Cutts manager, and friends Bill Roberts and Ann Bruce feared that something was wrong and went to his home to check on him.

“I knew something wasn’t right,” Downing, who through the years got to know Klingenbeck and looked forward to serving him breakfast each day, said.

Klingenbeck died the following day, due to complications from a fall.

Benny Crocker, John T. Wildman, Bob Day and Bill Roberts are among the remaining members of the breakfast club that started 15 years ago.

Some of the pilots even served with each other overseas.

“I flew with Bob in the 70s when he was a test pilot. He always wanted to fly with a sling load, but it wasn’t allowed,” Crocker remembered.

The group remembers Bob as a man with a Long Island accent but with Southern expressions. Even after 50 years of living in Enterprise, they remembered people still thinking he was from New York.

“He is a man that is going to be hard to forget,” Crocker said.

Klingenbeck’s daughter Debbie Sanders, and her husband Chris, thanked each of the men, who were sitting at their usual table, on Monday for being such a good friend to their father.

Klingenbeck was a father to four children, grandfather to eight and great-grandfather to three.

Photo: Pallbearers carry World War II veteran Robert F. (Bob) Klingenbeck to his final resting place Saturday at Meadowlawn Cemetery. Klingenbeck died last Thursday at Medical Center Enterprise. (Photo by Kim Lewis)