Some sad news to share

[WaiexN143NM]

Hi all,

Just wanted to share with you the sudden passing of my father , norman radtke , on jan 12, at the U of A Banner hospital
in Tucson. Many of you had met him , sonex open house, sonex workshop, sonex hangar party, sbpf bbq, and on the flightline.
He enjoyed talking to the early fliers, michael, kip, jeff, john about building tips.
We built three planes together, his beloved varieze N267NM, sonex waiex N143NM, zenith cruzer N144NM.
He was past president of the oshkosh and fond du lac eaa chapters. He was involved in flightline operations parking planes in oshkosh and fond du lac during airventure. Was a hangar owner in fond du lac , ontonogan mi.,
and tucson ryan field. He was a korean war vet and a patriot.
His brother john and him as teenagers bought a piper cub and taught themselves how to fly.
After the Army, he went to northrup in LA , got a degree in aircraft maint. Then on to rocketdyne to work on the third stage of the apollo saturn V rocket. After that fun it was on to McDonnell Douglas and DC-10 design.
Finally on to Mercury Marine in fond du lac and mgr of fuel systems.
He had a heart of gold and was very giving of his time, offering to help people on their plane projects.
He owned many factory built planes over the years, PA-14 vagabond, C-150, 2 C172’s, a C-177, 2 BE-35 bonanza’s, 2 PA-30 twin commanches,
2. PA-22 TriPacers, and a BE-19 beech skipper.
He instilled a love of aviation to me taking me to the hawthorne ca. airport for rides in his vagabond when i was a toddler.
He gave many young eagles rides over the years, served as a volunteer for the eaa B-17 and ford trimotor ground crew.
There will be a bench and name plate in his honor installed at the fond du lac airport terminal , thanks to the airport mgr. The ontonogan mi. airport will have a plaque installed at the flagpole.
i will purchase a tile at the brown arch oshkosh flightline, and have his name on the memorial wall pioneer airport next
to fergus chapel.
A celebration of his life will be held jul 15 in ontonogan mi at his beloved cabin, fishouse, and hangar.
with full military honors.
An obituary was posted in the fond du lac reporter paper. jan21.
Our hangar row at ryan field tucson is hurting, weve lost 4 great souls the last 4 months.
If anyone would like to donate in his memory please consider the eaa young eagles program.
go to http://www.eaa.org. look for the young eagles donation page. You can annotate his name.

added: he had always been in good health. he was 89 , about to turn 90. we had been going to the tucson VA and U of A hosp for heart work. he got a stent 2 weeks ago, and was scheduled for his tvar aortic valve the day after he died. he got covid about 2 mo ago. when i checked him into the er wed nite jan 11 , they found pneumonia in his lungs, hence his difficulty breathing. i believe a holdover of covid. On thur jan 12 he called me at 7am, texted at 8:30 said he was ok. Mom and i told him coming at 11am to spend the day with him.
at 10am U of A banner health called, the nurse was in distress. dad went into cardiac arrest, cpr iniatiated,
time of death 10:27 am
RIP.
Irionically the cruzer wing kit shipped out the day he died.

In Memory,
his son
Michael
EAA Lifetime
Retired FAA.

[GraemeSmith]

While I never met your father - I did through this touching piece.

Thanks for sharing and sympathy to you, family and friends

[Bryan Cotton]

Michael,
My sincere condolences. I met your dad once. Makes me realize how important it is for me to pull off my trip to Tennessee to give my dad a ride in the Waiex. We never know how much time we have.

[Sonex1517]

Michael

I am very sorry to hear this….blue skies and gentle breezes for your Father.

[WaiexN143NM]

Hi all, graeme, bryan, robbie,
Yes very sad. last yr’s airventure i had him scheduled on the honor flight out of boeing plaza to washington dc reagan DCA airport and bus tour of arlington cemetary .
also bought him an electric scooter like mine to get around during the week.
but alas he got covid right before airventure 2022.
so we scheduled for airventure 2023.
RIP.


Michael.

[N111YX]

Thanks for sharing the exemplary story of your Dad's life, Michael. What an inspiration to all that love aviation.

You have my condolences and my thanks for your family input to our Sonex family.

[Oshpilot]

Our condolences Michael. Treasure the memories.
Wayne and Kathy

[avee8r]

Hi Michael

I remember Norm working at the Tri-Motor. Chatted with him some, a typical great EAA'er conversation, but we never made the Sonex connection. My condolences of course.

Happy Landings
John Maxfield
Sonex N50NX

[WaiexN143NM]

hi all,
Thanks kip, wayne & kathy, and john.

The cruzer wing kit arrived yesterday. my goal is to finish it and fly it to airventure in his honor.

His obit. in www.fdlreporter.com


Thanks for all condolences.


Michael.

[Bryan Cotton]

Direct link:
https://www.fdlreporter.com/obituaries/wis382999