Posted by (+15536) 5 years ago
On this day, in 1988, Dr. Everette Dennis, son-in-law to Glenn and Masel Denton, climbed into his Cessna 182 and took off from the airport in Miles City, MT. It was a cold rainy day. He was headed to Colby, KS and then to his home in Manhattan, KS.
At the time I worked for his son Marc at a fertilizer plant. Marc came in late to work that day as he had gone to see his father off. I comment when he came in that it was marginal flying weather. My dad was a pilot and I was very familiar with flying myself. Marc assured me his dad had flown in much worse. He flew in WWII. Marc then departed to go to Terry to meet with some clients.
About 3:00 that afternoon the phone ran and it was Dick Pence, the church pastor. He was looking for Marc. He asked me if I could get Marc to come home ASAP. I asked why and he told me that Dr. Dennis had crashed just outside of Rapid City, SD. He had actually landed in Broadus, MT and knocked all of the ice off the wings and then continued his journey. His plane iced up again outside of Rapid City and he crashed and died at the scene.
One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do is tell someone their father passed away. I called Marc and asked him to come back. He wanted to know why and I had no choice but to give him the bad news.
I still have Dr. Dennis’ leather flight case. In many ways this day 30 years ago was the beginning of huge change in my life. It’s a sad story that was likely preventable. It’s stunning to think back. In someways it seems just like yesterday.
At the time I worked for his son Marc at a fertilizer plant. Marc came in late to work that day as he had gone to see his father off. I comment when he came in that it was marginal flying weather. My dad was a pilot and I was very familiar with flying myself. Marc assured me his dad had flown in much worse. He flew in WWII. Marc then departed to go to Terry to meet with some clients.
About 3:00 that afternoon the phone ran and it was Dick Pence, the church pastor. He was looking for Marc. He asked me if I could get Marc to come home ASAP. I asked why and he told me that Dr. Dennis had crashed just outside of Rapid City, SD. He had actually landed in Broadus, MT and knocked all of the ice off the wings and then continued his journey. His plane iced up again outside of Rapid City and he crashed and died at the scene.
One of the hardest things I’ve ever had to do is tell someone their father passed away. I called Marc and asked him to come back. He wanted to know why and I had no choice but to give him the bad news.
I still have Dr. Dennis’ leather flight case. In many ways this day 30 years ago was the beginning of huge change in my life. It’s a sad story that was likely preventable. It’s stunning to think back. In someways it seems just like yesterday.
