Pilot who died in fatal Missouri skydiving plane crash was father of 4, obituary says
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- Obituary said Roy, 69, died in Butler as a result of an airplane crash.
- Obituary noted Roy, 69, wished to be cremated and no public services are scheduled.
- The coroner's June 16 victim list gave Roy's address as Windber, Pennsylvania.
A Butler, Missouri, funeral home has published an obituary of the pilot who along with 11 skydivers died in a June 14 plane crash shortly after taking off from the local airport.
The Schowengerdt Funeral Chapel and Crematory in Butler posted the obituary of Kurt John Roy on its website, saying it handled the arrangements for the family.
“Kurt Roy’s wishes were to be cremated and remembered with fond memories,” the brief obituary said. “There are no public services scheduled at this time… Online condolences www.schowengerdtchapel.com.”
The obituary said Roy, 69, died in Butler “as a result of an airplane crash.”
Roy was born Nov. 7, 1956, in Charles City, Iowa, according to the obituary.
“Kurt is survived by his four children as well as the mother of his children,” it said.
In place of a photo was a Department of the Army seal.
The obituary said Roy was from Butler, but the list of victims released by the Bates County coroner on June 16 gave Windber, Pennsylvania, as his address. Property records show he also had lived in Florida for years.
Attempts to reach family members have been unsuccessful, and a funeral home official said they did not wish to comment.
The crash at the Butler Memorial Airport — about an hour’s drive south of Kansas City — was reported about 11:27 a.m. on June 14. It was among the deadliest U.S. skydiving incidents in decades.
The low-wing, single-engine turboprop plane was not able to make it to full power, according to officials with the Bates County Emergency Management Agency. It was turning left when it stalled near Interstate 49 Business — a local road that runs between Interstate 49 and the airport.
‘Died doing what he loved’
Roy loved to fly, his cousin told a TV journalist in west-central Pennsylvania.
Peter Mehalco, who said he was an older cousin of Roy’s, told WJAC-TV meteorologist Austin Long that the two grew up across the street from each other in Windber, Pennsylvania. They spent time hunting and “getting into mischief as boys,” Mehalco told Long in a story posted on the station’s website on June 18.
Mehalco and Roy “believed they were destined for the military, like their parents,” the story said, adding that “Mehalco said Roy joined the Army and became a helicopter pilot, which helped fuel his investment in flying.”
Roy later married and settled in Florida with his children, Long said Mehalco told him.
Long wrote that “Mehalco described Roy as kind, well-tempered and family-oriented, while also tough and ‘a little bit of a daredevil.’”
The story said that after leaving the military, “Roy continued pursuing flying and skydiving for work across different parts of the country, according to Mehalco.”
Mehalco told Long that those who knew Roy “knew he died doing what he loved and that he would want to be remembered for his love of flying and skydiving,” the WJAC story said.
“He also said Roy’s family has received immense support from others in the wake of the crash,” it said.
