Friend remembers Hilliard man killed Saturday in Dallas air show crash

Household and associates are grieving the lack of a Hilliard aviator killed in a midair crash at a Dallas air present Saturday.

Curtis Rowe, 64, and 5 others died when a historic B-17 Flying Fortress bomber and a P-63 Kingcobra fighter aircraft collided throughout an aerial demonstration.

Rowe was a 30-year veteran of the Ohio Wing Civil Air Patrol. A press release from Rowe’s commander mentioned he flew cadets on tons of of orientation flights over the course of his service.

A B-17 mechanic for greater than 30 years, Rowe had a particular bond with the aircraft, mentioned longtime pal Rick Brunetto.

“Final week after we noticed him earlier than he was gonna go to Dallas, he mentioned that, , ‘Effectively I am leaving tomorrow to go to Dallas to be with my mistress, my aircraft,’ ,” Brunetto mentioned. “He labored on that aircraft he saved it restore and upkeep and went on all of the flights and air exhibits. That was his love.”

Brunetto is the proprietor of the Valley Dale Ballroom and chief of the “Rick Brunetto Huge Band.”

“[Rowe] had a fascination with World Conflict II and all of the historical past of that, and that is why he cherished the massive band music, which we play. So that basically is what related us, I believe, to start with,” Brunetto mentioned.

[Rick Brunetto]

Brunetto remembered Rowe as a proficient carpenter, electrician an all-around handyman who may “repair something.”

“I bear in mind a few months in the past, in the course of the night time our sump pump went out,” Brunetto mentioned. “[Rowe] got here there in the course of the night time and glued our sump pump to maintain the constructing from flooding. You already know, simply that is the type of man he was.”

Rowe typically labored the entrance door taking tickets on the ballroom, Brunetto mentioned, the place he was one thing of a neighborhood movie star.

“He is there each Friday,” Brunetto mentioned. “He would greet individuals after they got here in. After which the factor about it, he would by no means take cash for it. He was simply the kindest, most giving individual I’ve ever recognized.”

[Rick Brunetto]

Brunetto mentioned he and others are planning a celebration of Rowe’s life within the coming weeks on the ballroom.