Flying has been a lifelong passion for Jim Conn. But it isn't merely the desire to be airborne that beckons the Alexandria native to the skies.

The calling goes deeper than that.

"A lot of guys fly just because they love to be in the air," said Conn, who attended Saint John's University for two years — from 1960-62 — before joining the Air Force, then completing work on an engineering degree at the University of Minnesota in 1969.

"I do too, but I have to have a mission. I don't like to just go up there and burn holes in the sky. There's always been a mission behind what I'm doing."

Today, that means volunteering as a pilot for several organizations - LifeLine Pilots, Mercy Flights Southeast and Angel Flight Central — which help transport individuals who might not be able make long car drives to their medical appointments through the air.

"I heard something several years ago, and I wish I could attribute who I heard it from," said Conn, who spent four years working for the Navy working on weapons systems as part of a test team aboard fast attack nuclear submarines and destroyer class surface ships, before going on spend most of his career in leadership positions at several different businesses.

"But we as individuals go through three trimesters of life," he continued. "You can break it down in terms of age - 30-60-90. The first phase you're learning, the second phase you're earning and the third phase is returning. Obviously, I'm in the third trimester now, and I was fortunate enough to do some decent things during the earning phase. I've come to the returning phase, and I want to find ways to give back."

It was another, more personal, calling that led Conn, his wife Anita and their family to establish the Brian Conn Memorial Fund at SJU in late 2017. The fund is named after their son, who died in October of that year after battling opioid addiction.

It supports students at SJU and the College of Saint Benedict who have struggled or are struggling with addiction. Among the initiatives funded are preventative education, outreach, marketing, counseling and various projects or programs that address student substance misuse and/or promote healthy, responsible decision-making about substance use.

It can also be used to support students participating in chemical dependency treatment programsm, or who otherwise seek to maintain their sobriety.

"Brian was a wonderful human being," his father recalls. "It's a time-worn expression, but he really would give you the shirt off his back. He fed homeless people in the Twin Cities. He got injured in an accident at work and he was prescribed opioids. They got a hold of him, and he couldn't wean himself off. It led to stronger drugs, and it was fentanyl that ultimately took him from us.

"We thought what better way to honor his memory than to put together this endowment in his name."

Conn said choosing to do it at SJU was an easy choice. He and his wife are football season ticket holders and return to campus often.

"Saint John's has always been really close to my heart even though I didn't graduate here," he said. "The two years I spent on campus became very important to me as my life developed. I came away with incredible values that have helped guide my decision-making ever since."

That connection is also what led Conn and his wife to set up a Charitable Gift Annuity through Saint John's earlier this year — a decision he said he couldn't be happier with.

"We looked at going with a brokerage we felt was really ethical, but in the end, Anita and I decided we wanted to have our annuity at Saint John's," he said. "It all goes back to the values I came away with that have lasted a lifetime. I think it's important to continue to support that and sustain it into the future."