couple of years relatively inactive. Expected to survive his cancer, Braniff suffered a cold in the summer of 1954, which later turned into a pneumonia. He underwent surgery to correct the pneumonia, but the surgery aggravated the cancer. He died on June 1, 1954, from complications of cancer that his doctors stated was directly connected with pneumonia and resulting surgery. Braniff was 56. Braniff's tombstone at his burial site incorrectly states he died on June 15, 1954. Notes References External links Braniff Flying Colors Historical Page Official Braniff International Website 1897 births 1954 deaths People from Kansas City, Kansas American airline chief executives Braniff American expatriates in Mexico United States Army personnel of World War I Deaths from cancer in Oklahoma 20th-century American businesspeople Businesspeople from Kansas