Thomas William Pitcher
1942 - 1973 (31 years)
Generation: 1
1. Thomas William Pitcher was born on 10 Aug 1942 in Cottage Grove, Lane County, Oregon; died on 21 Aug 1973 in Cottage Grove, Lane County, Oregon; was buried in Fir Grove Cemetery, Cottage Grove, Lane County, Oregon. Notes:
Cottage Grove – Federal Aviation Administration investigators have not yet determined the cause of a plane crash that claimed the lives of two brothers here Tuesday.
Thomas William Pitcher, 31, of Rte.1, Box 11, Cottage Grove, formerly of Pacific, Wash, and his younger brother, Gary Wayne Pitcher, 19, of 414 Thornton Lane, Cottage Grove, died when their single-engine Luscombe plane crashed and burned in a pasture about a mile south of the Saginaw interchange on Interstate 5.
The two were sons of Cottage Grove State Airport Manager Alpha O. Pitcher. The younger brother had been living at his parents’ home at the airport on Thornton Lane, according to state police.
The two men had taken off from the small airport apparently just minutes before they crashed at 12:15 p.m. in the pasture just north of the runway, witnesses said.
The pasture is part of the George Molitor farm on Rte.1 Box 644, Cottage Grove.
Molitor’s 13-year-old daughter, Sally, told police she was wending a fence when she saw the plane crash. She said it had been flying north about 60 feet off the ground when it suddenly looped on its back, went into a tailspin and dropped almost straight down near a herd of cattle.
She said she ran and got her father who was the first person at the crash site. Molitor pulled the two men from the burning plane, but they were already dead, she said.
The plane broke apart and burned on impact. The plane’s nose and cabin were smashed into a shapeless mass, and one wing split off, landing several yards away from the wreckage. Only the wings and tail remained somewhat intact.
The plane had been purchased recently by Thomas Pitcher, according to state police.
FAA officials were still investigating the cause of the crash Wednesday, police said. State police added they had not determined the pair’s destination.
The bodies were taken to Smith-Lund Funeral Chapel in Cottage Grove.
[newspaper clipping on Find a Grave, no publication information available]
Buried:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/103461539/thomas-william-pitcher