~ IN MEMORY ~

Military veteran, WA/DL Capt. Kenneth Lee Shackelford Jr.

April 17, 1945, ~ May 6, 2022

Obituary: Kenneth L. Shackelford was born in Atascadero, California on April 17, 1945, and died at home in Thayne, Wyoming on May 6, 2022. His life was filled with many personal and professional accomplishments. After high school, he attended San Jose State College from 1963-1967 on a track scholarship, where he held the American and World records in the 880 and 1-mile team relay.

After graduation, he was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps. Once he completed OCS in Quantico, VA, he was selected for flight training and earned his Navy wings of gold. Ken proudly served his country from 1969-1970 in Vietnam, flying 229 combat missions in the F-4 Phantom.

Upon his return to the US, he became an instructor pilot in the Advanced Naval Training Command based in Kingsville, Texas, and was selected to be the Marine alternate for the Navy flight demonstration team, the Blue Angels.

He married his wife of 50 years, Carol, in May 1972, and after resigning his commission in the fall, he and Carol returned to So. California. Ken was hired by Western Airlines as a pilot based in Los Angeles, eventually transferring to Minneapolis.

While in Minneapolis he successfully opened three Apple computer stores and was chosen by Apple to be one of the only people in the state of Minnesota to be trained on the “Lisa” which was the precursor to the Mac computers we have today.

In 1984 the family sold the computer stores and moved to Park City, UT where Ken began a new chapter in the airline business as Western merged with Delta Airlines. Ken’s drive and leadership lead him to culminate his career as Chief Line Check Pilot for the Delta 737 fleet from July 1996 until 2000, retiring in 2003.

Ken leaves behind his loving wife Carol; Daughter Kelly, her partner Matt Gridley and her three daughters Emma, Abby, and Olivia; Daughter Kathleen, her husband Brooks Holmes, and their two sons Teigen and Torin; Son Kenneth Ill and his wife Niko Perez.

No service is planned at this time.

“When the sun of life sets, the stars of memory shine.”

My proofreading is not foolproof.

My apologies to Allan Cartwright for inadvertently shortening his family name

in the previous post. please forgive me Allan.

Our Navy vets will fondly recall that thunderous greeting from the ship’s 1MC or PA system.

All Wallybirds, their friends, wives and husbands are invited to our quarterly luncheon, this time aboard the USS HORNET – AIR and SPACE MUSEUM

707 Hornet Avenue, Pier 3 in Alameda

Thursday 21 July

Time: 1230 PDT

Docent and Fellow Wallybird, Allan Wright has arranged for us to meet in the Officers’ Wardroom where we might partake of a box lunch and briefly discuss the future of the SFO Area Wallybird Luncheons and that of our Wallybird website.

Allan has managed to get us aboard on a normal “off day” for the ship and so admission is free but a donation of $20 or so will contribute to the continued operation of this very famous museum.

Checks may be made out to: The USS Hornet-Air & Space Museum.

Following our meeting, Allan and fellow docent, Tony Schoemehl will conduct a couple tours either topside or below deck. Be sure to wear comfortable shoes to enable you to negotiate the ladders.

Please RSVP to Paul at <pjbro@sbcglobal.net> (Captain Curt has fled the country)

Thanks to our  “in-house” USS Hornet Docent, Allan Cartwright, we have the Officers’ Wardroom reserved for us Wallybirds on Thursday, 21 July.

Further details to follow.

USS Hornet Museum Web Site

July 21 – Save the date!

~ IN MEMORY ~

WA/DL Capt. Jack Squire Fischer

December 28, 1936 ~ September 4, 2021 

Obituary information can be found online

Notice of passing….retired Western/Delta pilot Captain Jack Squire Fischer, age 84.  Jack joined Western Airlines on 08-29-1966.  He is survived by his wife Barbara, and by his children and grandchildren.

Jack Squire Fischer, age 84, of Hillside, passed away on Saturday, September 4, 2021, at his home.  He was born December 28, 1936, in Salida, Colorado, to Roman Daniel and Dorene Squire Fischer. 

Jack was a hard-working man who didn’t complain a lot.  He loved flying for Western Airlines, working on small planes, and his T-Birds.  He also enjoyed tinkering around the house and garage, working on projects and cars.  He was a jack-of-all-trades.  He would take on any project and complete it with precision and craftsmanship.

Jack was a man of few words but was always listening. He was content with life and very comfortable with who he was.  He had a heart of gold and loved his family. He was known for his wit, taking any opportunity to get a laugh. 

He leaves behind his wife, Barbara Fischer; daughters, Susan Rogers and Lori Porter; son, Gary Fischer; sons-in-law, Michael Rogers and Rich Porter; daughter-in-law, Deborah Fischer; grandchildren, Steven Giandalia and Matt Giandalia, and their wives, Stephanie Giandalia and Jenny Giandalia, Nick Porter, Katie Porter, Zach Fischer, Steven Staton, Derek Staton, and Taylor Watson, and great-grandchildren, Jack Giandalia, Henry Giandalia, and Goldie Giandalia. He was preceded in death by his parents.  

A private family service will be held.

Condolences may be sent to the Fischer family at 

477 County Road 32

Cotopaxi, CO  81223

July 28, 1940 ~ June 2, 2022

We have just received sad notice from the family with news of Tony’s passing today….please look for updates to follow.  Captain Anthony Vicar joined Western Airlines on 08-21-1967 and retired with Delta Air Lines, based 031/ATL at the time of retirement.  The family writes “ ……..Anthony Vicar was a pilot for Delta for many decades, first working with Western Airlines in 1967 before the Delta merge. He moved to Atlanta in 1992 and lived there with his family until now. He passed away today (June 2, 2022) after sustaining major brain trauma from a fall in his home……”

As more information is received we will pass it along.  

For those who may wish to send a personal note, the Vicar address is listed in white pages as:

2011 Palmetto Dunes Ct # T

Duluth, GA 30097

June 28, 1936 ~ March 17, 2022

Notice of passing….retired Western/Delta pilot Captain James Gary Olsen, age 85.  Captain Olsen joined Western Airlines on 08-29-1966 and retired with Delta Air Lines in 1996.  Widowed with the passing of his wife Kathleen, Gary is survived by his children and his grandchildren.

James Gary Olsen passed away peacefully with his loving children at his side on Thursday, 17 Mar 2022 at the age of 85. He was the first born of five children to James Olsen and Isabelle Janette Parker Olsen.  To avoid confusion over his father’s name he went by his middle name Gary.  He was born at the family home in Ovid, Idaho on 28 Jun 1936 and raised on the family ranch.

Gary was an Eagle Scout and graduated from Fielding High School, Paris, ID, in 1954 with a strong interest in science.  He attended Utah State in Logan, Utah, and joined the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC), training to be a future officer while going to school.

After two years of college, he was called on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where he served in Northern California and Nevada.  He first met his future wife Kathleen Mae Decker while on his mission in Nevada.

After his mission in 1958, Gary returned to school and continued his ROTC training at Brigham Young University.  While pursuing a degree in Physics and a minor in Mathematics, Gary also pursued Kathleen Decker who was going to the University of Utah at the time. They were married in the Salt Lake Temple on 12 Aug 1960.

After graduation, Gary was trained as a pilot by the US Air Force and served to the rank of Captain.  He loved to fly, and was first stationed at Craig Air Force base in Alabama flying radar missions over Cuba before serving as a pilot in Vietnam.

Gary and Kathy began a family in 1961, and they had four children by the time he finished his military service in 1966.  He began a satisfying career with Western Airlines but continued to serve through the reserve air national guard from 1967 to 1969.  He flew out of the San Francisco airport until 1985 and then transferred to the Salt Lake City airport where he continued to fly as a pilot for Delta until he retired in 1996.  The generous flying benefits provided Gary with the opportunity to take his family on numerous vacation trips, Hawaii being the family favorite.

Gary served through many callings with the LDS Church and never allowed himself to be idle for long.  In addition to church callings, he stayed active through numerous hobbies including Model Trains and Airplanes, Chemistry, Astronomy, Shooting, Photography, Scuba diving/Snorkeling, Sailing, Tennis, Racquetball, Water skiing, Snow skiing, Hiking, Genealogy, and Computer electronics.  He liked to sing and whistle, make puzzles, listen to classical music, and eat a good meal.

He lost the love of his life, Kathleen, to cancer in 2010 and has been eager for the chance to be reunited with her ever since. Gary was a generous hard-working man, tenacious and organized, and always supportive of everyone he knew.  He will be greatly missed.

Gary is survived by his children: Robert (Donna), Lorraine (Steve), Richard, and Linda, grandchildren: Brandon, Brittany, Ashley and Charles (his mother Marilyn), Jesse (Alesha), Cody, Kurtis, siblings: Bonnie, Charles (Marsha) and Michael (Mona), as well as many in-laws, nieces, and nephews.

~ IN MEMORY ~
Navy veteran, WA/DL Capt. David Carl Evans
December 31, 1936 ~ May 2, 2022

Notice of passing…..retired Western/Delta pilot Captain Dave Evans, age 85.  Dave joined Western Airlines 08-21-1967 and retired with Delta Air Lines in 1996, based 030/SLC at the time of retirement.

Obituary information

Condolences may be sent to the family at:
294 Saint Andrews Drive
Napa, CA 94558-1548

David “Dave” Evans passed away May 2, 2022, from Pulmonary Fibrosis. He was 85 years old.

Dave was born in Rockford, Illinois where he grew up on the family farm. His parents were Barbara and John Evans. He was a naval aviator serving in Jacksonville, Florida, and Corpus Christi, Texas. In May 1962, Dave was part of the naval recovery team which found and initiated the rescue of Mercury astronaut, Scott Carpenter, who had landed off course in the waters southeast of Florida. When Dave retired from the Navy, he joined Western Airlines and, subsequently, Delta Airlines. He flew 29 years as a commercial pilot. He enjoyed 25 years of retirement, playing lots of golf and traveling the world.

He is survived by his wife of 50 years, Kit, their daughter, Lisa Evans Sennott (Duncan), and 2 grandchildren, Marley Sennott (15) and Jack Sennott (13). He is also survived by his brother Jack’s wife, Dorothy, of Spring, Texas.

A private family service will take place at a later date.

~ IN MEMORY ~

Military veteran, WA/DL Capt. Robert M. Frick

August 4, 1936, ~ May 13, 2022

Notice of passing….retired Western/Delta pilot Captain Robert Martin Frick, age 85.  Captain Frick joined Western Airlines on September 6, 1968, and retired with Delta Air Lines.  He is survived by his wife Jo Ann, and by his children and grandchildren, plus many more dear family members and friends.   

Condolences may be sent to the family at (white pages listing):

20 Rollingwood Dr. Spc 71, Jackson, CA 95642

Robert (Bob) Frick of Jackson, CA died Friday, May 13, 2022, after a several years battle with dementia. Bob was born on August 4, 1936, in Orange, CA. As a young boy, and only child he moved with his mother Emily to San Francisco and grew up in the city. At Lowell High School he participated in track and field events. Upon graduation, he attended San Francisco City College for two years and then joined the United States Navy in 1957. He spent 10 years serving his country as a pilot including serving in the Pacific theater during the Vietnam War. After leaving the Navy he went to work for Frontier and then Western Airlines as a pilot and was domiciled in Denver, CO where he met the love of his life, Jo Ann Ayres. They married in Denver in 1967 and his work took them to Salt Lake City and Anchorage, AK before eventually moving back to the Bay area where they lived until 2004. When Western Airlines was purchased by Delta Airlines Bob continued his flying career with Delta, flying routes around the US and Internationally, concluding his career in the then-new Boeing 757. After retirement from Delta Bob flew charter flights, a charter King Air, and was a flight instructor at Navajo Aviation. In 2004 they settled in Jackson, where Bob was active in the Jackson area Lions Club. He and Jo were also active in the New Life Church, in Jackson. Bob’s faith was an important part of his life. Bob was a serious and professional pilot on the flight deck of an aircraft but outside of work he was a great storyteller and possessed a quick wit dispensing his humor with a twinkle in his eye. His family includes his wife of 54 years Jo, his three sons, and their partners, Chris Frick and Brittney Thompson of Sacramento, Tim Frick and Angela Mazziotta of Portland, OR, and Matthew and Adri Frick of Martinez, CA. Grandchildren Alex, Simon, and Neil Frick. His brothers-in-law, John Swisher III of Ann Arbor, MI, and Herb Ayres and his wife Elizabeth Hartman of Kalamazoo, MI, and several cousins, nieces, and nephews. 

A memorial service will be held Saturday, June 11, 2022, at the New Life Church in Jackson at 10:00 a.m. Memorial gifts for those that desire could be made to Hospice of Amador and Calaveras Counties.

Uncle Frank, as he was affectionately known by his nieces and their friends, flew West on April 16, 2022.  He was 81. While still in college, Captain Mayne learned to fly at Pacific States Aviation in Concord, California, and continued to fly for them during the early sixties.  He began his airline career at Western Airlines in 1966 and retired from Delta in 2000. In between his airline trips, Captain Mayne enjoyed decades  as a lab instructor in Marine Biology
at Diablo Valley College.

In keeping with his wishes, Captain Mayne’s funeral was private/family only.

By Frank’s side, at his funeral were:
His Sister, Ginny Glavinovich, nieces Natalie Glavinovich, Chelsea McClure and
Chelsea’s husband Kevin McClure.

Following a stroke, Frank remained partially paralyzed for nearly two years. His Sister, Ginny wants those who maintained contact with him during that unbearably lonely time to know that hearing from his fellow pilots served to boost his morale immeasurably. 

Condolences may be addressed to:

Ginny Mayne Glavinovich & Family
3164 Lucas Drive
Lafayette, CA
94549