Colonel Raymond George Sparks was an insurance executive, pilot, barnstormer, a veteran of both World Wars, and historian. He was born in Beloit, Kansas, in 1901, and resided in Kansas City for most of his adult life.



During the 1920s, Sparks jointly managed a rodeo company. He corresponded with Chauncey Thomas, a writer and outdoorsman who lived in Colorado, and regarded Thomas as a mentor.



Beginning in the late 1920s, Sparks worked as general manager for the Curtiss - Wright Flying Service in Kansas City, and oversaw the construction of company buildings at Fairfax Airport in Kansas City, Kansas. Sparks also started an airline that went from Kansas City to Brownsville, Texas, which was one of the first “feeder” airlines in the United States. When Curtiss - Wright ended its flying service during the Great Depression, Sparks was first employed by the Buhl Aircraft Corporation as a salesman, then got a job with the Connecticut General Life Insurance Company, where he worked until his retirement. Sparks was instrumental in creating group life insurance for pilots, at a time when few others would insure them.



Sparks joined the Army Air Corps in the 1940s and was stationed in England and France. He eventually became a colonel, and commanded the 1st Tactical Air Defense in Villacoublais, France. Troops under his command helped liberate France and Belgium from the Nazis. Sparks earned several medals during his service, including the Distinguished Flying Cross, and French and Belgian awards for valor.



Sparks was a member of the Conquistadores del Cielo, an organization for executives of aviation and aviation - related companies. Sparks was inducted into the Conquistadores in 1941 and kept the organization’s yearbooks from 1941 to 1975, missing only the 1944 volume. These were purchased by Wright State University in 1978, and remain in their archives.



In the 1950s, Sparks was head of the Kansas City, Missouri, Chamber of Commerce’s aviation committee. He played a pivotal role in the purchase of the site of the present-day Kansas City International Airport and was honored during its dedication.



Sparks had a lifelong interest in Kansas and Native American history. His research focused primarily on the skirmishes between Native tribes and the United States Army in the western United States in the 1860s. Information that he compiled about General George Custer is stored with the Orvel A. Criqui collection (UID 44820) in the Kansas Historical Society manuscripts holdings. In 1969, a booklet written by Sparks was printed as part of a commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Summit Springs. Sparks also wrote several unpublished works of historical fiction. He died on April 6, 1977, at the age of 76.