CLERMONT COUNTY, Ohio — A Clermont County Air Force veteran flew his final flight over the weekend.
Thomas Volz, 72, was killed when another aircraft crashed into his helicopter at the AEE AirVenture Air Show in Oshkosh, Wisconsin on Saturday. His pilot, 69-year-old flight instructor Mark Peterson of Foley, Alabama, was also killed.
According to the National Transportation Safety Board, Volz and Peterson were two of four people who died in two separate aircraft crashes that day.
"We always called him 'sarge in charge.' He took care of everything," said Volz's wife, Patty.
She said Volz was a lifelong aviation enthusiast and attended the air show every year. This year he took the RV up with one of his grandsons.
Patty was in Florida when a friend texted her telling her to call her grandson. He had been trying to get a hold of her, she said.
When he answered, he broke the heartbreaking news.
"For that young child to tell me that had to be so hard," she said. "I didn't believe it. 'No, he's not. No, he's not.' He said, 'I'm sorry Grammy, he passed away,' and the policeman got on the phone ... no, I couldn't believe it."
Patty said investigators told her the ELA 10 Eclipse gyrocopter crashed into the helicopter from underneath as it was landing.
"It plummeted 200 feet straight down and I kept thinking, 'Oh, he knew, he knew,' but I found out later that he never knew," Patty Volz said. "They didn't know what hit them. And that gives me some solace, but I'll tell you my grandson Hayden, he was next in line to go. And I can tell you that's a blessing because Tom would have never lived with himself so ... at least Hayden's safe."
Patty said she's still in shock, but finally let the first tears fall as she shared her husband's legacy. The couple had just celebrated their 52nd wedding anniversary in June. Patty didn't know then it would be the last one they'd share together.
Volz served 22 years in the U.S. Air Force, including missions in both phases of the Gulf War — Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm — from 1990-1991. He was a cancer survivor, having been diagnosed with Leukemia in January 2017 and spending four years battling the disease.
"I'm telling you, he fought," Patty Volz said. "He had 13 setbacks the next year — 13 different times back in the hospital but he survived."
Volz had seven brothers and sisters and Patty said though six of them were not suitable donors for a stem cell transplant, the seventh sibling was a perfect match.
"She gave him six more years than we would have had him and I will be forever grateful for that," Patty said.
In 2022, Volz embarked on the greatest journey of his life. Ever since the high school sweethearts married, it was his goal to build and fly his own helicopter, Patty said.
He spent the last year in Florida bringing that dream to fruition before returning home with his aircraft in early June.
"Because he was so busy after he got home, he never took it out of (our barn)," Patty said.
Volz was planning on taking the helicopter for its first true flight after his Oshkosh trip.
While she and her family wait for Volz's remains to be flown back to Ohio, Patty said she finds some solace knowing he died doing what he loved.
"What is so funny is we thought we'd have to go pick him up and my daughter says, 'Mom, FedEx can bring him home in a plane and that's what dad always loved' — loved flying, so this is last flight," she said through tears. "He'll love it."
Watch Live:
