Pilot's coin collection funds Auburn aviation scholarship

Judy Neher was looking for a way to honor her late father, who was a U.S. Air Force pilot, educator and coin collector.

The answer soon clicked into place: she could use his valuable coin collection to create a scholarship for Auburn aviation students.

“When I realized I could give it to the School of Aviation, it was an ‘aha’ moment,“ she said. “He was an instructor, and aviation was his life. It was just meant to be.”

Now, the John T. Neher Endowed Scholarship honors her father’s lifelong devotion to aviation and teaching others to fly while supporting Auburn students studying professional flight and aviation management in the College of Liberal Arts.

Over the years, Neher rebuilt five 1940s-era WACO biplanes.

Neher was a U.S. Air Force pilot, educator and coin collector.

A high-flying career

Born in Altus, Oklahoma, in 1920, Lt. Col. John T. Neher began his military career flying fighter jets with the Army Air Corps and then with the Oklahoma Air National Guard, serving three years on active duty during the Korean War. He later transferred to the Alabama Air National Guard in Montgomery and Birmingham. When he reached the mandatory age limit for retirement, his love of flight didn’t stop; he continued his aviation career as a civilian flight instructor for the U.S. Army at Fort Rucker, teaching soldiers to fly fixed-wing aircraft like the OV-1 Mohawk.

But Lt. Col. Neher was more than an instructor; he invested in the young pilots he taught, mentoring them beyond their training. Judy remembers her father often calling home before leaving work and asking her mother to set another place at the table.

“All of his life, he was bringing home company for dinner,” she said. “My father always had flight students eager to talk with him. He had a wealth of knowledge about planes.”

During his lifetime, Lt. Col. Neher flew approximately 80 different military aircraft, everything from single engine LC126’s to twin-engine B-26's. And his love of aviation didn’t stop at flying and teaching; he also dedicated himself to rebuilding antique airplanes. Over the years, he rebuilt five 1940s-era WACO biplanes.

“Planes were his life — he was just born that way,” Judy said. “He could build them, he could fly them, he taught others to fly them. From jets to open-cockpit biplanes, he was one of those old-generation pilots who could find his way around any airplane.”

A legacy in every coin

Born during the Great Depression, Lt. Col. Neher collected silver coins as a child, including some that dated back to the late 1800s. As he traveled the world throughout his military career, he added coins from other countries as keepsakes of his journeys. Over time, the collection grew substantially, and when the government stopped producing silver coins in the mid-1960s, its value increased significantly.

After his passing, Judy realized that his lifelong hobby had become a valuable investment, and that was when the idea began to take flight: she realized she could transform her father’s coin collection into a scholarship fund that would help aviation students pay tuition — a fitting tribute to an honorable man.

While his three years of active duty during the Korean War were immensely important, Lt. Col. Neher's 60-year flying career extended far beyond military service. He flew everything from charter planes and crop dusters to a newspaper route, dropping papers from a metal tube mounted beneath his aircraft. Perhaps his most important role, however, was helping guide the next generation of aviators.

“Education mattered deeply to my father, and because of him, it matters deeply to me,” she said. “So, when his coin collection came to me, turning it into support for Auburn students who love flying the way he did felt like the perfect legacy.”