The Death Of My Hero, My Father

It was the winter of 1963, when we had received word that my dad was missing. He was to report to the Seal Beach airport along with the Seal Beach Airport Manager who was flying with him at the time. My father used to commute from Seal Beach Calif, where he was working for the government as an Electronic Engineer on an oilrig off the coast of California. He would fly his Cessna from Seal Beach Calif., to Logan Utah, where we lived, to be with his family on the weekends until the end of his contract. I was in high school at the time, going to North Cache High School. The last time he radioed in on that day that he left, (On a Sunday), was when he was flying over Lake Mead Nevada. A residence that lived near Lake Mead Nevada, had reported seeing a ball of fire plummeting out of the sky, right over the lake, as it disappeared out of sight "somewhere in the lake". Our family was devastated, but never gave up hope that he would be found. There were search parties formed, and local volunteers headed up the search. My brother at the time, was the oldest of us siblings, and was in the Navy at the time, and he was able to come home to help on the search parties.

Larry, my brother, was granted a month's leave to be on the search party. There were several eyewitnesses that had seen the "ball of fire" coming out of the sky, some say that the plane went into the lake; others claimed that the plane must have crashed into the mountainside, somewhere around the lake. The searchers were able to determine that no wreckage had been spotted by air, and foot searches were hard to do in that area, because of how rugged the terrain. Some of those places around the lake were quite dense with undergrowth, and forestry. Divers were sent down into the lake to search for the plane, where some witnesses had speculated that it might have plunged into the lake. Some say that some parts of Lake Mead were considered "bottomless", which only meant that it was too deep for divers to go down, but they tried. The search had lasted for about 2 to 3 weeks, and they (my dad, and the manager of Seal Beach Airport) were presumed to have perished in the plane crash/accident. Prior to their departure from Logan Utah, they were told that a severe storm was heading towards their flight path, and the airport manager told them that they should probably wait it out. Well, both men decided to see if they could go around it, because they both had to report to work that Monday, and decided to "chance it". If only they had heeded the weather report, they would have both been alive today, or would they?

My mom was in a state of denial of my dad's disapperence, as we all were. My dad was her world, her love, and the father of her children. Dad was a veteran pilot since he was honorably discharged out of the Navy. and he was a great pilot. My mom had her license as well, and I was taking ground school and had some flight time when we heard the news of my dad missing. Mom remained optimistic as to his being found. She needed some type of closure. It wasn't until 11 years later, that they had found my dad, and the Seal Beach Airport Manager's plane. It was found by a hunter while deer hunting, that he saw something that looked like fabric, which was clinging to some trees and undergrowth around the area. There seemed to be a tunnel like configuration, going through this thick underbrush, and he followed it in. There, about three hundred yards into the underbrush, was my dads plane. When the hunter approached the plane, he observed two skeletal remains of the passengers who was later identified to be my father and his friend. The hunter had found a wallet in the plane that had my dad's license in it, along with four $100.00 bills. The front of the plane had been severely burned, which later it was determined to be a fuel line. The rest of the plane was pretty much intact, for the exception of the wings and tail being severely mangled from the impact. It wasn't the weather that killed them; it was a faulty fuel line. By this time, I had served in the Navy over in Vietnam, trying to help support my mom, I was sending her money, as well as savings bonds to help raise my younger sister.

I was living with my now ex-wife in San Jose, working at Westinghouse, when my mom called me, to let me know that they had found my dad. I really took his death hard, he was not only my dad, but also my best friend, and pal. He took me everywhere when I was growing up. We would go fishing, hunting, camping, and he was always my hero. When I had learned that they had found his body, I thought about what my mom had gone through, the hardships, the financial burden of us kids, she couldn't collect any kind of insurance because my dad was not declared legally dead, until the statutes of limitations run out, which was 7 years later, and it was four years after that when they had found his remains. When the Department of the Navy found out about his death, we received a certificate of recognition of my dad's years of service, signed by President Johnson. Of course, it could never replace my dad, but it was some kind of closure for all of us. The hardships for my mom were unbearable. She couldn't sell anything like cars, trucks, land, nothing, because it was all in my dad's name, at least until he was declared legally dead. I felt so sorry for her. She really had it rough, we all did.

That's been years ago, but you never forget. Life goes on, but you will always remember the ones you love. That is the reason why I never hesitate to tell my family, my children, my grandchildren, everyone on both sides of the family, that I love them with all of my heart. The loss of my father was very painful, and he could never be replaced. Many years later, loneliness hit my mom hard, especially when all of us kids were on our own. She finally found a wonderful guy that she spent her time with, and he was a Navy man as well, but she lost him a couple of years later to a massive congestive heart attack. She never re-married after that. She has since passed away. And her pain is over. God rest their souls. I miss them dearly and I will never forget them ever.