Garfield Russell "Gar" Brown
Marriages
Maggie Brown - November 1969
in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Obituaries
Vail Daily page A4 - June 26, 2013
Garfield “Gar” Brown was killed in an airplane crash Sunday flying with his best friend, Chris Hall, over Horse Mountain Ranch near Wolcott.
Gar was born Garfield Russell Brown to his parents, Philip Garfield Brown and Nancy Greer Brown, in Minneapolis on April 27, 1944. He was an Army brat during the time his dad served as a lieutenant colonel. They lived in army bases across the United States and France, finally settling in Lake Minnetonka, Minn. He graduated from Minnetonka High School in 1962.
Gar’s first appearance in Vail was the summer of 1964 with his best friend, Roger LaCroix, to work construction. In early 1965 he went to Pensacola, Fla., and Corpus Christi, Texas, to enter the Naval Cadet Flight Program. Upon finishing flight training he attempted to get a commercial pilot’s job with a major airline. At that time, Vietnam veterans were returning with more flight hours and experience, so Gar took a job at the Minneapolis Star Tribune newspaper as an advertising sales rep. He met his wife, Maggie, while working at the Star Tribune and attending the University of Minnesota night school. Gar and Maggie were married in November of 1969 in Minneapolis.
In the fall of 1971, Gar and Maggie made the move to Vail, “just for a year,” after visiting Roger LaCroix several winters to ski and attend another friend’s wedding. The length of his residence in Vail lasted 41 years.
Gar is survived by his wife, Maggie; daughter Lindsay Weiss and her husband, Erich, and children, Taelyn and Avery; son Peter and his significant other, Elissa Banker. He is also survived by his older sister Marcia Wingert and her husband and children.
Gar loved flying with Chris, riding his Triumph Thunderbird and taking his boat to Lake Powell. He loved the outdoors and enjoyed years of camping, Jeeping and hiking in the mountains with friends and family. He will be missed dearly but will live on in our hearts. The family has not decided on a memorial service date at this time. In lieu of flowers, please send contributions to the Eagle Valley Humane Society, P.O. Box 4105, Eagle CO 81631.
“When once you have tasted flight, you will forever walk the earth with your eyes turned skyward, for there you have been, and there you will always long to return” — Author unknown.
Vail Daily page A8 - June 24, 2013
Two die in plane crash in Wolcott.
WOLCOTT — Two people are confirmed dead following the crash of a private plane at approximately 8:30 a.m. Sunday in Wolcott. Eagle County Chief Deputy Coroner Mikel Kerst has identified the two victims as Christopher Hall, 70, of Edwards, and Garfield Brown, 69, of Gypsum. Hall was the owner and pilot of the Yak aircraft.
The Chinese Yak aircraft was based out of Eagle County Regional Airport and had taken off around 8 a.m. The plane was found in a field near the Horse Mountain Subdivision. No injuries on the ground were reported. Weather at the time of the crash was calm and clear.
The Eagle County Sheriff’s Office, Greater Eagle Fire Protection District, Eagle County Paramedic Services and Eagle County Regional Airport Aircraft Rescue and Fire Fighting responded to the scene.
An investigation will be conducted by the Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board.
Vail Daily page A2 - June 25, 2013
Eagle County crash victims ‘loved to fly.'
EAGLE COUNTY — Chris Hall and Garfield “Gar” Brown had been friends and flying buddies for years. The men, and their families, grew up together in the Vail Valley. This week, the Hall and Brown families are mourning. So is the valley’s family of pilots.
On a bright, blue Sunday morning, Hall and Brown headed into the air together, flying in Hall’s 1950s-vintage “Yak,” a plane once used to train Chinese pilots. They didn’t come back.
Monday, Hall and Brown were remembered as men who, literally, helped build the valley, each in his own way.
Hall showed up in the valley, riding a Triumph motorcycle, the summer between Vail’s first and second seasons. He quickly fell in with Bob Lazier, a veteran of that first season. The two became friends, and in the mid-1960s, the pair built the first wing of Lazier’s second “Wedel Inn,” which brought 24 rooms of employee housing to the new village.
“Neither of us had built a full building before,” Lazier said, adding that the project started on Sept. 8 and finished Dec. 19.
“We did (almost) everything,” Lazier said. “Chris could work like nobody I knew.”
The 1960s and ’70s saw Brown and his family come and go, before the group settled here for good. Those years included Brown’s time in the U.S. Navy’s flight school. Although he never became a pilot, Brown always loved flying. His daughter, Lindsay Weiss, said flying, riding motorcycles and boating were her dad’s top passions. Brown spent a lot of time riding, Jeeping and exploring the mountains of his adopted state.
Through the Vail Valley years, the families spent a lot of their off-hours together.
“We were always at their house,” Weiss said.
The families also spent a lot of time on the water. Hall’s son Alexander noted the family still has a boat parked at Lake Powell.
While Hall and Brown spent a lot of their time-off together, the men had different career paths.
Weiss said her dad worked in construction and held numerous jobs with Vail Associates and, later, Vail Resorts. Most recently, he was working as a driver for Colorado Mountain Express.
“He’d complain about the traffic, but there was something about hearing people’s stories that he loved,” Weiss said.
Hall, meanwhile, became one of the most specialized mechanics in the world. Always good with his hands and tools, he spent the past 25 years of his working life rebuilding and maintaining the TT 1 “Pinto” jet trainer. Only 14 were built in the mid-1950s, and Hall had a hand in putting half of those planes back into the air.
The first Pinto Hall rebuilt was a project for Lazier and some partners. The project started as many restorations do, with several boxes and crates that someone believes might be made again into a flyable plane.
“Only Chris could have put it together,” Lazier said. “Chris was a genius that way.”
Hall also rebuilt and maintained the Chinese trainer he was flying Sunday, and his mechanical skills were legendary at the Eagle County Regional Airport.
“He was always willing to share his expertise,” longtime friend Walt Olsen said. “He really had a passion for flying.”
Hall’s passion for flight passed down to Alexander, who also has a pilot’s license. On Father’s Day, the two got up into the air, just for a quick trip up and down the valley.
“It was great,” Alexander said. “We circled over the Tough Mudder (race at Beaver Creek) a few times.”
While Hall spent much of his time on the north side of the airport — where many of the valley’s private pilots hangar their aircrafts — Vail Valley Jet Center General Manager Paul Gordon said he was well-known among the group that uses the more jet-friendly facilities on the south side of the runway. Gordon said both Hall and Brown were involved with the Eagle County Aviation Association and were well-known in that group.
“It’s just devastating when somebody you’ve known passes like this,” Gordon said. “They were part of a tight-knit flying community, and it’s hard to lose them.”
Vail Daily Business Editor Scott Miller can be reached at 970-748-2939 and smiller@vaildaily.com.
Vail Daily page A11 - September 13, 2013
Celebration of Life Gar Brown April 27, 1944 to June 23, 2013.
You are invited to Gar’s Celebration of Life which is scheduled for Sept. 29 at the Brush Creek Pavilion in Eagle. The event will begin at 1 p.m. with buffet service later in the day. Please e-mail your RSVP to Maggie at brownies@vail.net or to Jill at jillsy@horsemail.com so we have a count for the buffet. Please also indicate whether adults or children are going to attend. We are also asking family and friends to bring pictures and stories about Gar to share. We look forward to seeing you there. --Gar's Family
