Gallery of Aviation A tribute to Steve Stuczynski. Home       Photos       About Us       Articles       Links       Guestbook

Steve's Memorial     continued
	Harry Thompson has been doing a lot of bush flying on floats to transport fisherman to Canada so I needed the Lord’s assistance to make sure he was home when I called. Harry answered the phone immediately and I informed him of Dad’s death. I then asked if he would like to do a fly by with Tigger at the memorial service. He said that might be a possibility and said he would call back either with a yes or no. The next afternoon I heard the word I prayed for…….YES! He said “I’ll be shoving off tomorrow”. That was Friday before the Saturday service. It was about 6:30 Friday evening when my cell phone rang and it was Jason, who was still at the Madison Airport clearing things with the tower and Wisconsin Aviation for a VIP treatment for Harry’s arrival. Jason simply shouted “HE’S HERE, HE’S HERE! When Harry came to our house I jokingly said, in typical Warbird camping style, “your tent is in the back yard”. Believe me we quickly altered our tune and treated this “King of the Weekend” with utmost respect. Jason and Harry spent the evening planning the fly by. The next morning Harry and Jason came to the visitation for a short time and then they left to get Tigger ready for his appearance at the presentation of arms. Jason rode the back seat and helped Harry navigate and coordinate the fly bys with the outdoor portion of the ceremony. About half way through the mass, we heard the sound of the AT-6 taking off and throughout the rest of the ceremony you could hear Tigger’s round engine as Harry and Jason circled the church. Just the way Dad would have liked it. They did four perfect fly bys and Dad loved it!!! The Eagles who were there can tell you just how awesome it was. THANK YOU HARRY! This speaks highly of your love of Steve and the friendship Jason and I have developed in the few years we’ve known each other. That’s what aviation camaraderie is all about and this certainly confirms it.	Channel 15 was at the outdoor ceremony taping and even interviewed me. It was aired on Saturday’s 5:00 and 11:00 news. Earlier, when I was looking through pictures for the picture boards, I ran across a February 21, 1988 Wisconsin State Journal Look Section article on Dad done by Roger Gribble titled “Vet’s collection takes flight”. Roger did this just as Dad was doing the addition to build the “Gallery of Aviation”. I told Roger of Dad’s death and asked if this would be worthy of a follow up article. He said absolutely and he or another reporter will be in touch with me in a week or two. This speaks highly on the impression Dad made on the community. The evening of the memorial service our entire family went to Wisconsin Aviation and Harry gave each of us a ride in the AT-6. How many of us can say we’ve had a ride in a Warbird? This too displays the feelings he has for Steve and his family. Jason caught a commercial flight home and had a round trip ticket back to St. Cloud. However instead Harry flew him to St. Cloud on his way home Sunday. We took Harry out to breakfast at the VFW 8483 north of the airport. We asked if Harry would do one last fly by for the VFW on their way out of town for Steve because he was a life member of the club. This fly by too was awesome and was enjoyed by all who were there. Next Page Top of Page