1928 ~ 2019
Beloved husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, uncle and friend passed away this week at his home in Salt Lake City. Jay was born February 25, 1928 in Butte, Montana to Albert Silva and Johanna Murray Mooney. His family moved to Salt Lake City in 1935 when his father was appointed theand earned a first chief pilot of Western Airlines. Jay attended Judge Memorial Catholic High School graduating in 1946 with the James McGean Outstanding Athlete and Scholar Award. He later attended the University of Utah earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. At Judge Memorial, Jay met the love of his life Bernice Maher Mooney and they married on June 9, 1952 in the Cathedral of the Madeleine. Jay and Bernice were blessed to be the parents of five children. The family lived in Montana, New Mexico, Kansas and California before returning to Salt Lake in 1978.
Jay grew up around airplanes and learned to fly at a young age. He was passionate about flying both professionally and personally and enjoyed flying aerobatics in his Decathlon. Jay served his country in the United States Air Force during the Korean War and was stationed at Edwards AFB. He had a distinguished career in aviation first as the co-owner of Butte Aero Sales and Service and later in the Los Angeles and Salt Lake City offices of the Federal Aviation Administration. Jay retired at the age of 80 after 46 years of service with the FAA where he was a check airman for Western, Delta and Skywest Airlines.
Jay was devoted to his family and his church, living a life filled with integrity, faith and compassion. He was an avid skier and fly-fisherman and enjoyed skiing fresh powder at Alta and Solitude and fishing in Montana well into his eighties. Thank you to Dr. Luras as well as the kind professionals at Huntsman and all his friends at Whole Foods who were part of his wellness journey. Jay is survived by his son James (Kimberly), and daughters Julie, Mary (John Greer), Anne (John Sparano), grandchildren and great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his wife (Bernice), son (John Jr.), his parents, and brothers (Albert “Al”, William “Bill” and Brien). 
A funeral mass will be celebrated on Tuesday, May 7 at 12:00 p.m. at Our Lady of Lourdes Catholic Church.Vigil service Monday, May 6 at 7:00 p.m. at Neil O’Donnell & Sons Mortuary where friends may call 1 hour prior. Internment at Mt. Calvary.

Our second quarterly luncheon is now only 11 days away and we are at 16. You KNOW you want to do this!

When:   Thursday, April 18, 2019

Where:  Fairview Metropolitan Banquet Center             

10051 Doolittle Drive, Oakland, CA 94063          (Next to OAK Intnl.)

Time:    1130 to 1400

Salads:   House Green Salad, Broccoli Salad, Italian Pasta Salad, Carrot and Raisin Salad

Entrees:  Chicken Marsala and Lasagne with meat sauce           

Sides: Roasted Vegetables, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Dinner Rolls and Butter         Chef’s Choice Dessert Cookies/Brownies             Coffee, Hot Tea           

Other Beverages available at adjacent bar

Cost:     $30.00 pp if we have less than 35 people, $28 pp if we have 35 or more, so let’s go for the discount!

If you haven’t attended at this venue, I think most who have will attest to the food quality, the room size, ambiance and the view across the golf course of The City By The Bay!  Spouses and good friends are all welcome to join us.

We have a speaker with an exciting but seldom heard story of Combat Helo Rescues in Nam

Please RSVP ASAP to BOTH Paul Browne & Curt Taylor at:
pjbro5790@att.net           & curttaylor@sbcglobal.net

I just received this update on services for Jim Pollak from GeorgeBuchkowski [DAL Retired]   sf
Friday April 5 Rosary at 9:30am, Mass at 10am – all at St Cecilia’s Catholic Church in Tustin. Reception at house immediately following.
Saturday April 6 Graveside service with military honors at Holy Sepulcher Catholic Cemetery in Orange at 10am. 

https://vietnamtowesternairlines.com/excerpts/volume-1/chapter-20-jim-pollak/
Volume 1, Chapter 20 by Jim Pollak
Jim Pollack
Excerpt from Volume 1, Chapter 20: Shootdown of Jim Pollak, by Jim Pollak, USAF
F-100D, January 4, 1968
Date of hire by Western Airlines: 1/27/1969

—–Original Message—– From: Carol Faulkner
Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2019 11:47 AM
To: S.K. FRANKS ; Dick Deeds
Subject: Re: Jim Pollak heads WEST

…I’ll keep eye out for more information…thank you
~ Carol

—–Original Message—– From: S.K. FRANKS
Sent: Wednesday, March 27, 2019 11:34 AM
To: Dick Deeds ; Carol Faulkner
Subject: Jim Pollak heads WEST

Have received word that WAL/DAL Captain and USAF fighter pilot flew west
yesterday afternoon!

Info will follow as soon as info is received

Stan Franks=

—————–


From: George Buchkowski
Sent: Tuesday, March 26, 2019 7:58 PM
To: death.flwnwst@gmail.com
Subject: Death of Jim Pollak

I just received a phone call from Jim’s wife, Bonnie, that he passed away today.  Jim was based in LAX and retired in Sept. 2000.  Funeral arrangements are pending.

 
Our second quarterly luncheon is only 3 weeks away!

When:   Thursday, April 18, 2019

Where:  Fairview Metropolitan Banquet Center             

10051 Doolittle Drive, Oakland, CA 94063          (Next to OAK Intnl.)

Time:    1130 to 1400

Menu:   House Green Salad, Broccoli Salad, Italian Pasta Salad, Carrot and Raisin Salad

Entrees:  Chicken Marsala and Lasagne with meat sauce           

Roasted Vegetables, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Dinner Rolls and Butter         Chef’s Choice Dessert Cookies/Brownies             Coffee, Hot Tea             

Other Beverages available at adjacent bar

Cost:     $30.00 pp if we have less than 35 people, $28 pp if we have 35 or more, so let’s go for the discount!

If you haven’t attended at this venue, I think most who have will attest to the food quality, the room size, ambiance and the view across the golf course of The City By The Bay!  Spouses and good friends are all welcome to join us.

We have a speaker with an exciting but seldom heard story of Combat Helo Rescues in Nam

Please RSVP ASAP to BOTH Paul Browne & Curt Taylor at:
pjbro5790@att.net           & curttaylor@sbcglobal.net

James B. Hoover, 84, Ridgeland, Wis., died unexpectedly Monday, March 4, 2019, at Mayo Clinic Health System, Menomonie.

Jim joined the United States Air Force after high school and served in combat during Vietnam. He then flew for Western Airlines and later Delta Airlines, retiring in 1994.

Surviving are his wife of 60 years, Nancy, and sons Michael of Wisconsin and John of Kentucky.

A celebration of Jim’s life will be held 4-7 p.m. Saturday, March 9, from Rausch-Lundeen Funeral Home, Dallas, with military honors accorded by the Willard Hinzman American Legion Post 511 of Ridgeland.

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~ IN MEMORY ~ USAF veteran, WA/DL Capt. William ‘Bill’ Grimditch September 3, 1944 ~ February 8, 2019

Notification with the passing of retired Western/Delta pilot Captain William Henry Grimditch III, age 74.  Captain Grimditch joined Western Airlines 06-11-1973 and retired with Delta Air Lines, based SLC/030.  Captain Grimditch suffered an at home fall resulting in brain trauma, and those medical complications led to his passing.  He is survived by his wife Heidi plus many dear family members and friends.  To view the obituary online please visit https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/longmont-co/william-grimditch-8154482 Also at https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/dailycamera/obituary.aspx?n=william-grimditch&pid=191846948 CELEBRATION OF LIFE event:  Saturday, March 23rd at 2:00 PM Mountains Edge Gym, 555 30th St., Boulder, CO.             Thank you,                 ~ Carol for the PCN  https://pcnflightwest.blogspot.com/2019/03/wadl-capt-william-bill-grimditch.html Obituary……………… Bill Grimditch was a man who brought his classic smile and sweet demeanor with him and shared that with everyone he met. Whether it was greeting people boarding his plane, showing kindness to the cashier at McDonalds, or his unwavering loyalty to his friends and family, Bill loved people. He was a connoisseur of fast food fish sandwiches, soft-serve ice cream, Coca-Cola, flan and conservative talk radio. He had the ability to talk politics in a light-hearted manner with the staunchest of Boulder liberals and somehow remain pals. Bill was a rare soul that will be deeply missed, yet his life history shows that he lived and loved to the fullest. Bill was born in Phoenix in 1944 to Bill Jr. (deceased) and Gioia (deceased). His childhood was spent in Phoenix, Hillsboro Beach, and Lake Placid, NY. Growing up, he was a gun toting, scuba diving, waterskiing wild man that drove way too fast, and managed to get thrown out of more than one school. Bill had numerous odd jobs like picking cotton in Phoenix, cutting new ski trails in Upstate, NY, driving a taxi cab in Miami, and teaching waterskiing in the summers. He would be the first to admit that he was not a stellar student but managed to earn a degree in Psychology from the University of Miami – by the skin of his teeth. A career in Psychology was not in his cards though. With the Vietnam War looming, Bill decided to join the Air Force and soon after asked his girlfriend, Heidi, to marry him. They married in Atlanta in ’68 and moved to Del Rio, TX where he began pilot training. Bill was transferred to Rapid City and was shipped overseas to fly KC-135 refueling tankers during the Vietnam War. During this busy time, Bill and Heidi managed to own and operate a hotel in Deadwood, a former brothel, and have their first daughter, Lauren. Bill and his young family (and their cats) survived the devastating Rapid City flood of ’72 thanks to his bravery and quick reactions (qualities that he was renowned for). Bill described joining the Air Force as one of the best decisions he ever made as it gave him a clear vision which led to a rewarding career as an airline pilot. In ’73, he accepted a pilot position at Western Airlines, later Delta, and moved his family to Boulder where he lived the rest of life. During their time in Boulder, Bill and Heidi added Brent and Lleane to the family, and five grandchildren. He served on the Boards of the Lake Eldora Race Team and the Humane Society of Boulder Valley. Bill loved Halloween and he entertained trick-or-treaters with his elaborate productions and costumes which became quite a neighborhood spectacle. He loved his family and tried to attend almost all his children’s and grandchildren’s events. As a grandfather, he and relished the opportunity take them to get soft-serve – even at 9 in the morning! In recent years, he worked at the Mountain’s Edge Gym in Boulder where he greeted people at the front desk with that classic Bill smile and took seriously his duty to research the daily trivia stumper and gave his absolute best no matter the task. Bill was a classic gentleman in that he valued tradition and he demonstrated chivalry daily. He used words like “gal” and “mixed company” and said things like, “are you decent in there?” If he was eating at a table with “mixed company,” he would stand up every time a gal would arrive or leave the table. Words to describe Bill are; loving, loyal, brave, humble, sweet, serving, honorable, humorous and driven. His family will be hosting a Celebration of Life for Bill at Mountains Edge Gym, 555 30th St. in Boulder on March 23, 2019 at 2:00PM, more info on Caring Bridge. We will all miss Bill so much but are thankful he is now free to move about the western sky, without an airplane!  

—– Forwarded Message —– From: Leo Powell <leopowell@aol.com>To: “dickdeeds@pacbell.net” <dickdeeds@pacbell.net>Sent: Sunday, March 3, 2019, 10:12:56 AM PSTSubject: PASSING OF Wally Goltry
Hi Dick,it is with great regret I would like to pass along the passing of our fellow Western/Delta pilot Wallace H. Goltry ” Wally ” .Services are being provided @ :     Grace Community Church
    13248 Roscoe Blvd      Sun Valley,Ca  91352
on March 16,2019……ph (818) 909-5500
any additional details will be provided as available after speaking with his wife,Nancy

To all, I’m sorry that I haven’t sent much lately but I am having serious surgery tomorrow so hopefully I be back to normal operation next week. Then by Thursday I hope that my computer program will ber repaired also. If things do not go well thrn I want to thank all of you for the privigee  of working and flying with you. I’ve had a hell of a ride!

If you go to wallybird.com and click on the house next to “Wallwird” and select “all Posts” you start conversations with the entire wallybirds. You can have relevant conversations here.

Dick

Paul and I are trying to keep the inevitable cost-creep down for our luncheons at the Fairview Metropolitan. It’s a venue that seems to have worked out reasonably well, but under our current contract, we will need to charge close to $30 to cover all the costs.  Here’s how it breaks out:

.   . Current / Modified / Deli
Meal cost: $24.00 /$22.00 /$19.00
Tax (9.25%) 2.22/ 2.04/ 1.76
Gratuity (10%) 2.40/ 2.20 /1.90
Speaker* 1.00 /1.00/ 1.00
Total Cost $29.62/ $27.24 /$23.66
Charge to you: $30.00 /$28.00 /$24.00

Sorry about the formatting. Every time I save it to publish, it messes up my columns. I hope you can figure it out!

*Speaker receives complimentary lunch.

Current Menu: 2 entrees, 4 salad choices, vegetables, dinner rolls, coffee, hot tea, cookies or similar.

Modified Current Menu: 2 entrees (choice of lasagna, tilapia, chicken), 2 salads, chef choice dessert (cookies or similar), coffee, tea.

Deli Menu:  Sliced deli meats, assorted cheeses, assorted slices of bread and all the condiments, Served with 4 salads.

This pricing preserves the kitty at its present level.

Please let me know what your preference is of the three options above by responding to my email (curt@taylorsinpv.com) by March 1^st.

OTHER VENUES?

Paul and I did quite a bit of looking around when we had to move from Francescos, and the Fairview seemed to be the best suited for our needs. If any of you want to investigate less expensive venues, we would encourage you to do so.  Ideally it would be a buffet where everybody pays on the way out, and has a separate room that we can use.

SPEAKERS

ALSO, we are looking for speaker suggestions for the April meeting (and beyond), so please think about any contacts you might have who would have some topic of general interest for the group. Also, I would invite any of you who have an interesting hobby or experience that you would like to share with us to let us know.

Over and out.