Saturday, July 04, 2009

Death of a Non-celebrity

In the midst of the "notable" deaths that occurred last week, there was one which will not receive much attention. A small plane crashed. The lone passenger, the pilot, was killed--burned beyond recognition.


Authorities identify pilot in Southern Utah crash

Published: Thursday, July 2, 2009 9:55 p.m. MDT

The Washington County Sheriff's Office identified the man who died Tuesday in a small plane crash as Gary Logan, 54, of Las Vegas.

Logan was flying from North Las Vegas Airport to Cedar City when his single engine plane went down and crashed at Utah Hill, near the Utah-Arizona border.

He was supposed to arrive at his destination by 11 a.m. Tuesday. The Cedar City airport alerted the sheriff's office that a plane might have gone down in their area when he still hadn't arrived by 2 p.m. The Civil Air Patrol located the crash site a half hour later, said Chief Deputy Rob Tersigni.

There were no other passengers on the plane. The National Transportation Safety Board began its investigation of the accident Wednesday.

— Michael R. McFall


Gary Logan was a long-time friend of our family. He loved to golf, and was one of Gramps's favorite golfing buddies. He came all the way to Phoenix to see Grandma and Grandpa when they were both recovering from illnesses a year ago.

His family have our sympathy at their loss.

Jesus asked a crowd once, "For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul?" (Mark 8:36-37, ESV). We would all do well to dwell on that question while we are alive, because death will come for each of us. Fame, money, and looks desert us, even in this life; they are certainly of no value in the life to come. I don't know if any of the celebrity triumvirate which passed on last week knew Jesus as Savior; some have hopes, but I have my doubts.

In contrast, Gary knew Jesus as his savior, and he came to know him in part as a result of my grandpa's witness. Grandpa preceded him in death by just a few months. I'm thankful that we can rejoice that they are truly in a better place, and we will have the opportunity to see them again. That is real hope - a hope that comes out of a personal relationship with the savior, Jesus Christ.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I can just see them reuniting in heaven ready to pick up where they left off with their golfing, what an exciting thought to know they are together.

Unknown said...

He was my step brother and he died on my mothers birthday.

Its almost fitting since the mid 70's they never got along. If that was the end of the story that would be wonderful. The headlines would read "Man gets greatest revenge of all: Ruins arch-nemesis' birthday by accident".

The truth is they did get along at first then a family rift divided them until recently, when about four years ago Gary flew himself to San Antonio for a conference and met up with my mom. They patched things up and everything was great again. Talks of a Thanksgiving visit were even discussed.

What happened before was in the way-way past. I dont know if they even remember the reasons. Nevertheless, the greatest feud of north Phoenix had ended when he came here and reconciled.

So much for the headline...

I know that Gary was the best brother that I could have hoped for. No matter what was going on with him or my mother, I knew if I needed something, I could count on him.

He hadn't been a part of my life for some time before he passed, but please make no mistake.

We will (do) miss Gary.

Darrell Douglas
San Antonio, TX

Matt Gumm said...

Darrell: Thanks for stopping by, and for sharing something so personal.