Beaverton Historical Society Gladwin County Obituary/Death Notice
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Joseph Sutherland
Gladwin Pilot Among Five Killed In Jet Crash In North Carolina
Leroy Sutherland, well known Gladwin pilot and resident, was one of five persons killed
instantly Thursday night when the business jet they were riding in exploded in mid-air and
crashed in Sanford, N.C. Killed with Sutherland, 58, an executive and company pilot for
Champion Home Builders Co. of Dryden, were Henry George, 50, chairmand of the board of Champion,
his wife, Effie, 51, Philip Nester Jr., 47, a recently hired assistant to George, of Elkhart,
Ind., and Jimmy Taylor, 35, a company pilot, from Flint.
The company owned 8-passenger Lear jet left the Sanford airport about 8 p.m. and was banking
out of the takeoff pattern when an explosion blew the right wing off the plane, according to
reports from the area. The plane came around and nose dived into a soybean field about two miles
northwest of the airport. The nosecone of the sleck aircraft was pushed into the ground about 6
feet, according to reports. A Highway Patrol Sgt., Harry Jarman, said he watched the plane circle
over his home, explode in midair and then explode again on impact.
"Pieces were all over the sky," said Mrs. Ray Hodges, who grabbed her children and ran outside
when she heard the jet screaming toward her home. "It was just raining down fire," she added. A
spokesman for Champion Home Builders said the group left Flint aboard the plane Wednesday to visit
two plants in Lillington, N.C., near Sanford. The jet left Sanford, located in sparsely populated
Lee County in central North Carolina between 8 and 8:30 p.m. Thursday for the return flight to
Flint's Bishop Airport.
Sutherland's wife, Charlotte, was notified shortly after 11 p.m. Thursday of the accident. Friday
a five man investigative team from the National Transportation Safety Board began to sift through the
scattered wreckage. It is estimated by the Federal Aviation Administration in Raleigh that the
investigation will take a week or two to complete.
George, with a partner, founded Champion Home Builders in 1953 as a mobile home construction firm.
The company now has 50 plants in 18 states and employs nearly 5,000 people. Sutherland had been a pilot
with the firm for 12 years and also became an executive with the company a few years ago. It was not
uncommon for him to be arriving or leavind Gladwin at odd hours to fly company personnel to various
parts of the country.
He began his flying career with the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II. Following his discharge
he opened Sutherland Flying Service at the Gladwin airport which he operated until about 1950. He then
became the pilot for Robinson Industries and also learned how to fly the company's helicopter. His
association with the Champion company began in 1965 and when the company purchased a business jet he
became qualified to fly it.
Sutherland, a lifetime resident of Gladwin, developed and owned Sutherland Trailer Park in Wooden
Shoe Village until selling it a few years ago. It is now called Mark Hinter Mobile Home Court. He was
in the process of developing another trailer court and marina further north on the east side of Secord
Lake.
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Personal Information
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Death Date
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Burial/Final Location
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Service
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09/08/1977
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Ridge Cemetery, Gladwin, MI
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Cpl. US Army WWII
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Publication Information
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Pub. Date
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Publication
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Pub. Page
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09/14/1977
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Gladwin County Record, Gladwin, MI
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P:1 C:1
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Transcription Information
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Date
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Transcribed by
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Source Media
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January 2005
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Tom Ladner
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Microfilm
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