Obits

Richard 'Dick' Hauff

Richard ‘Dick’ Hauff

1940 ~ 2019

Captain Richard Hauff, age 79, passed away quietly on December 9, 2019. He was a lover of country, church and Carol, his wife of twenty years. Dick was raised an only child and grew up in Royersford, PA. He graduated from West Chester University where he met his wife Carol.

Dick entered the Naval Officer Candidates School in August of 1962. He thereafter reported (one day late) to Naval Amphibious Base Little Creek, VA for USN BUDS (Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL) Class 29. This rigorous training program also included Army Airborne Training, guerrilla warfare training, which together added the air and land components to the sea (Frogman) UDT qualification. It can be safely assumed that all who graduated from this high washout program excelled in all respects.

The range of Dick’s SEAL assignments would be worthy of a captivating book, but he was especially proud of the cover of Time magazine showing his UDT team attaching the first flotation bladders to the Gemini Three space capsule after splashing in the Pacific.

Nolan Parmer

Nolan Jesse Parmer

1941 ~ 2019

Captain Nolan Parmer, age 78, flew west for the last time on September 17, 2019 after a courageous fight with heart and kidney disease.

Nolan was born February 7, 1941 to Jesse and Zeda Parmer in Port Arthur, Texas. He had no siblings. When Nolan was nine years of age the family moved to Phoenix to find a better climate for his severe asthma. He graduated from Camelback High School in 1959 where he participated in Junior ROTC (JROTC). Following high school Nolan matriculated to Arizona State University where he concurrently completed the Air Force ROTC curriculum and earned a degree in electrical engineering.

Gene Winn

Gene Glen Winn

1931 ~ 2019

Gene Winn, age 87, passed away on August 26, 2019 in Estero, Florida. His cause of death was lung cancer.

Gene was born November 10, 1931 in Birmingham, AL the fourth son with a younger sister. He grew up in Pleasant Grove, AL. His father was a steelworker. All of Gene’s siblings, three brothers and sister, graduated from Auburn University, but Gene chose to earn his degree at Oklahoma State University. Family lore has it that Gene was an advanced student who skipped two grades. He began his university studies at Auburn University but dropped out to enlist in the USAF Aviation Cadet pilot training program.

Richard 'Dick' Bradford

Richard ‘Dick’ Bradford

1936 ~ 2019

Captain Richard Bradford, age 83, passed away peacefully on November 8, 2019. Born in Utah to Harold and Ethel Bradford, Dick was educated in Utah and deeply grounded in the Church of Jesus Christ of the Latter-Day Saints (LDS).

After college Dick was commissioned in the Utah Air National Guard. He spent two years on active duty undergoing pilot training and fighter transition before returning to the Utah ANG. Assigned to the 191^st Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Dick flew the F-86A and F-86L (very similar to the F-86D) and stood Air Defense Command (ADC) alert duty.

Northwest Airlines hired Dick on October 30, 1958; he was one of the youngest in his NWA pilot class. Significantly he was employed at the end of the hiring wave of the 1950s soon to be followed by an extended period of no pilot hiring. His initial checkout was as copilot on the DC-4. He experienced the last of the era of great propeller airplanes; flying copilot on the DC-6, DC-7, Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, and the Lockheed Electra. With the entry of the jet age, Dick flew captain on the Boeing 727, the 707 series, the DC-10 and the classic 747. He also served the NWA Training Department for many of years as an instructor/check airman, finishing his career as the Training Manager on the DC-10.

Jim Bestul

James Allen Bestul

1933 ~ 2019

Obit Photo Jim Bestul Captain James Allen Bestul, age 86, of Excelsior, Minnesota flew west for the last time on Nov. 07, 2019. Son of Sylvan and Rebecca (Ensberg) Bestul, Jim was born in Washington DC and grew up in Arlington VA and Bremerton WA. Jim was the oldest son, having a younger brother. For thirty-four years Jim’s father was an astronomer at the U.S. Naval Observatory. Due to his father’s employment Jim attended his first three years of high school in Bremerton, WA and then his senior year back in Arlington, VA. Despite his fragmented high school experience, Jim played the trombone in high school marching band in Bremerton. He also played in a Dixieland jazz band.

Jim spent four years at Capital University in Columbus, Ohio; where he studied accounting, graduating in 1955. A friend convinced Jim to look into Naval Aviation. Jim whizzed through the screening tests. Now having completed his bachelor’s degree Jim was off to Pensacola for pre-commissioning officer training followed by primary pilot training. The Pensacola training was followed by advanced training at NAS Corpus Christi, Texas.

Ned Best

Joseph ‘Ned’ Best

1940 ~ 2019

Obit Photo Ned and Northwest Cargo high res

Captain Ned Best, age 78, passed away the morning of July 24, 2019 surrounded by his loving wife of 39 years and their three grown children. Ned was born an identical twin to Samuel and Helen Best on October 28, 1940 in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Ned earned both a Bachelor or Arts and a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Tulsa in 1962. Between the academic school years he found summer work fighting wildfires in Idaho, where he fell in love with the Pacific Northwest, vowing to someday make it his home. In addition to his academic studies at the University of Tulsa, Ned completed four years of Air Force ROTC and upon completing his degree was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the Air Force Resesrve.