At the risk of sounding cliché, Jeff died doing what he loved.
He'd moved from Calgary to Vancouver, with his wife Sara Schacter, to finish residency in obstetrics and gynecology. He specialized in difficult pregnancies, and was delighted to be flying with various medevac teams around British Columbia.
He would often phone home, to Calgary, to tell us about his adventures on the Learjet, as it flew over the ocean on its way to help expectant mothers in difficult to reach locations.
He would describe seeing whales, beaches, and marine life from thousands of feet in the air. This was one part of his job that he adored.
Jeff and Sara had just finished dinner, on January 10th, when their phone rang. It was a colleague of Jeff's, who'd been called out on a medevac flight to Massett, in the Queen
Charlotte Islands. He was unable to go and asked Jeff if he would go instead.
Jeff jumped at the chance to go up in the air again, so off he went.
As the plane was approaching the Massett runway, to meet the expectant mother in distress, the pilot's altimeter read that they were flying at the correct altitude. It was later
discovered that the altimeter was faulty, and they were actually flying far too low. As it was dark, the pilot, copilot, two paramedics, and Jeff couldn't see, and wouldn't have known
about the error.
The plane crashed into the ocean. All five team members were lost.
Fortunately, for the Dolph family, they found Jeff's body. They also found the pilot's body, but the other three have never been found.
Since then, our family has carried on, content that Jeff left us doing what he loved. We speak of him often, with laughter and fondness.
Sara, his wife, eventually remarried and now has two daughters.
The Dolph family has always been close with Sara and her family. We get together for their Jewish celebrations and the Schacter family gets together with us, for our Christian
celebrations. Sara's daughters, Rachel and Joely, now have three sets of grandparents!
Jeff had fond memories of Central Memorial, particularly of being in the band.
Congratulations to all of you on your 25th reunion - I'm sure Jeff is right there with you.
I was walking through Safeway one day in Richmond. Saw this guy and he was looking at me kinda funny. I looked back and sure enough it was Jeff!!! Ran into him a few times before I moved to the Island... a few weeks later while watching BCTV news I found out the plane went down off the Queen Charlotte's. Jeff you were an amazing individual. I will always remember you standing on the 50 yard line at Mc Mahon Stadium staring at the sky....with your pants around your ankles!
Jean Pon-Pham
submitted by Laurie Dolph:
January 27, 1967 - January 11, 1995
At the risk of sounding cliché, Jeff died doing what he loved.
He'd moved from Calgary to Vancouver, with his wife Sara Schacter, to finish residency in obstetrics and gynecology. He specialized in difficult pregnancies, and was delighted to be flying with various medevac teams around British Columbia.
He would often phone home, to Calgary, to tell us about his adventures on the Learjet, as it flew over the ocean on its way to help expectant mothers in difficult to reach locations.
He would describe seeing whales, beaches, and marine life from thousands of feet in the air. This was one part of his job that he adored.
Jeff and Sara had just finished dinner, on January 10th, when their phone rang. It was a colleague of Jeff's, who'd been called out on a medevac flight to Massett, in the Queen
Charlotte Islands. He was unable to go and asked Jeff if he would go instead.
Jeff jumped at the chance to go up in the air again, so off he went.
As the plane was approaching the Massett runway, to meet the expectant mother in distress, the pilot's altimeter read that they were flying at the correct altitude. It was later
discovered that the altimeter was faulty, and they were actually flying far too low. As it was dark, the pilot, copilot, two paramedics, and Jeff couldn't see, and wouldn't have known
about the error.
The plane crashed into the ocean. All five team members were lost.
Fortunately, for the Dolph family, they found Jeff's body. They also found the pilot's body, but the other three have never been found.
Since then, our family has carried on, content that Jeff left us doing what he loved. We speak of him often, with laughter and fondness.
Sara, his wife, eventually remarried and now has two daughters.
The Dolph family has always been close with Sara and her family. We get together for their Jewish celebrations and the Schacter family gets together with us, for our Christian
celebrations. Sara's daughters, Rachel and Joely, now have three sets of grandparents!
Jeff had fond memories of Central Memorial, particularly of being in the band.
Congratulations to all of you on your 25th reunion - I'm sure Jeff is right there with you.
Laurie Dolph, Jeff's sister
Randy Stevens
I was walking through Safeway one day in Richmond. Saw this guy and he was looking at me kinda funny. I looked back and sure enough it was Jeff!!! Ran into him a few times before I moved to the Island... a few weeks later while watching BCTV news I found out the plane went down off the Queen Charlotte's. Jeff you were an amazing individual. I will always remember you standing on the 50 yard line at Mc Mahon Stadium staring at the sky....with your pants around your ankles!
Brenda Belcher