Latest news with #Wolfelt
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'I Am Completely Dead Now': Indiana Man Pens His Own Obituary Before Fatal Crash in Self-Made Plane
72-year-old Gary Wolfelt wrote his own comedic obituary before dying in a plane crash earlier this month The Indiana man crashed his self-made plane in Ohio on May 5 Wolfelt wrote that he had many near misses in his life, stating, 'I am surprised that it took this long to happen.'A man from Indiana wrote his own comedic obituary before dying in a plane crash earlier this month. According to Fox59, 72-year-old Gary Wolfelt crashed his self-made plane in Ohio on May 5. Although he didn't know he would pass away in the crash, he explained in his orbit that he had had many near-death experiences in his life. 'I am completely dead now,' he wrote in an obit published on May 8 — three days after he died. 'I am surprised that it took this long to happen.' 'I had several close calls throughout my lifetime. I guess that I was just lucky that something didn't get me long before now,' he added. Never miss a story — sign up for to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Wolfelt said there was a 'long series of events and mishaps' that 'should have killed me long ago.' This included a baseball landing on his forehead in grade school, his sister's horse kicking him in the gut, being hit by a car and a large brick chimney nearly falling on him. 'In my fifties, I got knocked down nineteen stairs at my office by a couple of hundred pound concrete lined safe which landed on top of me and pinned me to the floor,' he added. 'That one was the worst! I didn't get any body parts broken and no internal injuries.' ! Wolfelt continued that after falling from a scaffold and cracking his head in his sixties, he was forced to go to the doctors, who discovered that he had prostate cancer. While the cancer was found early, Wolfelt's needed to have his prostate removed in his early seventies. 'The surgery went well. But then I developed an internal leak that nearly killed me,' he said. 'I cannot tell you here what sort of event actually killed me as I wrote this obituary before I was completely dead. Someone else will have to fill in the details later on I guess," he continued. is now available in the Apple App Store! Download it now for the most binge-worthy celeb content, exclusive video clips, astrology updates and more! Wolfelt went on to apologize to anyone he may have 'offended or mistreated" during his life, "especially Anoma Hargis in the sixth grade.' He also took time to appreciate his wife Esther Chosnek — whom he married in 1982 — for being 'nice to me most all of the time, even when I spent the grocery money on tools and airplane parts.' Highlighting his life achievements, he wrote, 'I stayed lovingly married to the same woman for a long time. I cut about 100 cords of firewood. I fixed a lot of problems for a lot of people over the last fifty years.' 'I paid all of my bills with my own earnings. I only took welfare (Social Security) after I retired,' he continued, 'I would like to thank those of you who loved me while I was here on Earth. It really meant a lot to me. And I appreciate your letting me love you right back.' At the end of the obit, Wolfelt's wife Chosnek added that 'it took him 17 years to build his beloved Express Aircraft.' Wolfelt is survived by his wife, brother, sister, two brothers-in-law, and 'several nieces and nephews.' Read the original article on People
New York Post
15-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Indiana man who died in plane crash wrote own comedic obit: ‘I am completely dead now'
Author of his own fate. An Indiana man wrote a darkly funny obituary for himself, which was published after he died in a crash involving his homemade plane. Gary Wolflet, 72, fatally crashed his self-made single-engine Express 2000 FT plane in Ohio on May 5, and though he was perhaps not prepared for the accident, he was ready for the inevitable, according to a report from WXIN. Advertisement 3 Gary Wolflet wrote his own obituary that was released after he was killed in a plane crash in Ohio on May 5, 2025. Soller-Baker Funeral Homes 'Hello. I am Gary. I am completely dead now. I am surprised that it took this long to happen,' the deceased man wrote. 'I had several close calls throughout my lifetime. I guess that I was just lucky that something didn't get me long before now.' Advertisement Wolfelt then chronicled a series of cartoonish close calls that occurred over the course of his life — including taking a baseball to the head as a Little Leaguer, being kicked in the stomach by his sister's horse Cricket, getting hit by a car, narrowly escaping a falling chimney, and taking a spill down a flight of stairs while holding a concrete-lined safe that landed on his chest. After that last fall, Wolfelt said he was forced to go to a doctor who discovered he had prostate cancer — 'I had just dodged another bullet.' 'I cannot tell you here what sort of event actually killed me as I wrote this obituary before I was completely dead. Someone else will have to fill in the details later on I guess,' he added, not knowing he'd end up leaving this life doing one of his favorite things. 3 First responders gather near the scene of the plane crash in Ashland County, Ohio on May 5, 2025. FOX 59 Advertisement In a heartwarming turn in the comedic obit, the amateur aviator also laid out his 'most important accomplishments.' 'I stayed lovingly married to the same woman for a long time. I cut about 100 cords of firewood. I fixed a lot of problems for a lot of people over the last fifty years. I paid all of my bills with my own earnings. I only took welfare (Social Security) after I retired,' he stated simply. Wolfelt didn't want children, so instead he and his wife Esther had dogs — which he admitted to liking more than 'most people that I came into contact with throughout my lifetime.' Advertisement Still, he made sure to show his gratitude to those of the humankind whom he did like. 'I would like to thank those of you who loved me while I was here on Earth. It really meant a lot to me. And I appreciate your letting me love you right back,' he wrote. In a P.S., Wolfelt cleared the record on his voting history, writing, 'I also want you to know that I didn't intentionally vote for any socialists during my lifetime.' 'So I am not the least bit responsible for the mess that America is in at the moment.' The prolific posthumous penman said he wouldn't have a funeral, adding, 'In lieu of flowers, please keep the money and take yourself out for a nice dinner or do something nice for someone else.' 'Good bye and Peace. I am hanging up now,' Wolflet concluded. 3 Officials investigate the field where the single-engine plane crashed, killing Wolflet. FOX 59 Wolflet is survived by his wife Esther, three brothers and sisters, and several nieces and nephews, according to an addendum written by Esther. Advertisement 'Hopefully if there is a life after death, I will end up with Esther and all of our dogs in a sunny field of tall grass with music playing all around me. It was music that made me the happiest most of my life,' he wrote. Even in his death, Wolfelt left an impact. Dozens of strangers signed the guestbook section of his obituary, heaping on praise over his autobiographical obit.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘I am completely dead now': Pilot, 72, who died in a crash penned his own obituary detailing his close brushes with death
A 72-year-old man who died in a small plane crash had the foresight to write up his own obituary before his death, and he packed it full of charm and stories of his close calls in life. "I am completely dead now," Gary Wolfelt wrote in his obituary. "I am surprised that it took this long to happen." On May 5, Wolfelt left Lafayette, Indiana, in a small plane that he spent 17 years building. The plane never made it back, and Wolfelt did not survive a crash in Ohio. When his obituary was published, readers were likely surprised to see that it was penned by Wolfellt himself. 'I had several close calls throughout my lifetime. I guess that I was just lucky that something didn't get me long before now,' he wrote. According to Wolfelt, he'd had a "long series of events and mishaps" that "should have killed me long ago." Wolfelt knew his audience would want some examples, and he delivered. In one story, he recounted taking a fly ball to his skull during a Little League game. Sadly, his bodily sacrifice for the game did not translate into luck for his team, which he said lost 20-0. In another tale, Wolfelt describes an unfortunate encounter with his sister's horse. The animal kicked him in his gut noting that 'any lower and I'd be singing soprano for the rest of my life.' Gravity almost got Wolfelt twice before his final plane right. In one instance a brick chimney collapsed and nearly crushed him. In another he took a tumble down the stairs, and a metal safe came tumbling down after him. Despite the parade of mishaps, Wolfelt remained positive and gave thanks for the important things in life. "Thank goodness for pain killing drugs," Wolfelt wrote. Wolfelt isn't all jokes though. Buried beneath the humor, Wolfelt spends some time in his obituary pondering the decisions he made in life. For example, Wolfelt never had children, but he did love dogs. 'Generally a dog will only bite you when you have it coming. This is not the case with many people," he noted. At one point, the 72-year-old apologized for past wrongs, noting that he "was far from a perfect human," and allowed that he did try to "learn from my mistakes and shortcomings as I grew older." He also shared his pride at another decision he made — remaining faithful to his wife Esther for the entirety of their 40-year marriage. "I stayed lovingly married to the same woman for a long time," he wrote. "Hopefully if there is a life after death, I will end up with Esther and all of our dogs in a sunny field of tall grass with music playing all around me."
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
What the NTSB has learned about Monday's fatal plane crash in Ashland County
POLK, Ohio (WJW) — The National Transportation Safety Board is now investigating the crash of a small aircraft in Ashland County on Monday night. NTSB Air Safety Investigator Todd Gunther on Wednesday gave an update on the investigation from the Polk Jackson Perry Fire District station in Polk. Man killed in Geauga County crash that involved dump truck The Express 2000 FT single-engine aircraft piloted by 72-year-old Gary Wolfelt, of Indiana, crashed just after 7:30 p.m. on Monday in Jackson Township, near the intersection of state Route 89 and Township Road 902, according to officials. Courtesy of OSHP Wolfelt was killed. He was believed to be the only person on board, state officials previously said. Gunther said the four-seater plane was an experimental craft, home-built from a kit, made of fiberglass composite and powered by a six-cylinder, 300-horsepower engine. The craft appeared to have crashed with its nose down about 10 to 15 degrees, and may have been spinning to the right, Gunther said. Investigators recovered all four corners of the craft at the scene, including the tips of both wings, the nose and the tail. They're now looking at the connections between the cockpit and the devices used to control the craft, like the elevator and rudders. There were no signs of an explosion during the flight or a fire after the crash, Gunther said. The plane was fueled, and that fuel was found leaking at the scene. The plane's fuel tanks were ruptured, but their caps were intact, suggesting the tanks were ruptured in the crash, he said. Investigators have found the plane's emergency locator transmitter. U.S. Air Force rescue coordinators told the NTSB they did not receive any signal from the downed craft, Gunther said. State officials previously suggested severe weather may have been a factor in the crash. NTSB investigators are now relying on meteorologists to interpret the weather conditions at the time of the crash, Gunther said. They're also looking for non-volatile memory storage from the plane, which can retain data without being powered, and may tell investigators what the plane was doing when it crashed. They're also looking at its automatic dependence surveillance broadcast, which could give the plane's positioning in time and space, he said. FBI child sex abuse crackdown catches 11 alleged offenders from Northeast Ohio The plane had departed from Burke Lakefront Airport, state officials said on Tuesday. Wolfelt was supposed to be returning home. They'll also consider Wolfelt's pilot and maintenance records, as well as reports on his physiology, medical certification and physical condition at the time of the crash. A preliminary NTSB report on the crash is expected in the next 30 days, Gunther said. The full investigation will take 18 months. The Federal Aviation Administration and the Ohio State Highway Patrol are also involved in the investigation. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to Fox 8 Cleveland WJW.
