Paul Vasconi, President of the AAM Foundation has gone West
Fri Jul 17, 2009 2:34 am
Friends,
I am deeply saddened to report the loss of my very dear friend, Founder and President of the Air America Foundation, Paul Vasconi.
Paul's unwavering dedication and commitment to telling the story of Air America and restoring our C-123 in their honor was an inspiration to us all, and his work will be carried on just as vigorously with his untimely passing. There will be a memorial service for Paul this Saturday at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum in Titusville, FL at 1pm. I have tried to reach everyone I can think of, but Paul had many friends in the Warbird world, and I'm hoping the one's I undoubtedly missed will see this.
Rest in piece my friend, you will not be forgotten...
~Trevor McIntyre, Air America Foundation
http://www.legacy.com/FloridaToday/Obit ... =129791751
"Dr. Paul Vasconi, DC -Palm Bay - Dr. Paul A. Vasconi, DC, a Chiropractic Physician in Palm Bay for over 30 years, passed away on Friday, July 3, 2009, at the age of 55. Paul was born in Clearwater, Florida. Paul was President of the Air America Foundation, restoring a C123 cargo plane that was used by the CIA for secret missions during the Vietnam War. His goal was to make the plane a flying museum and attend air shows through out the US telling their story and to honor Air Americas veterans. His wish is for the continuation of the many dedicated volunteers and financial support that would enable this plane to someday fly. The C123 is located at the Valiant Air Warbird Museum in Titusville. He is survived by his mother, Velia Vasconi; his fiance Cheryl Towle; Uncle, Joe Antonini; cousins, Lu Ann Berger and John Vasconi along with cousins in Ohio and Pennsylvania; and his devoted dog, Cocoa. He was preceded in death by his father, Albert Vasconi and half brother, Alfred P. Vasconi. Paul was a member of the Florida Chiropractic Association and a prior member of Palm Bay City Counsel, Council on Roentgenology of the American Chiropractic Association a Delegate to the Rotarian Convention in England, and a member of the Collings Foundation. Paul was a recipient of the following awards: Paul Harris Award from the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, Brevards Best Chiropractor award from Florida Today, Recognition of Dedicated and Unselfish Donation of Time to the 1986 Kart Race for the Palm Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, Brotherhood Award for Distinguished Service To the Chiropractic Profession and to Humanity, Outstanding Leadership as President of the Palm Bay Rotary Club, Outstanding Service Award as Director of the Palm Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, Burnt Piston Award Southern Road Racing Series. Paul was a wonderful friend to everyone and never met a stranger who didn't like him. He always went of out his way to help anyone. He will be deeply missed by his mom, fiance Cheryl, his dog Cocoa, family and friends.
Fly high amongst the clouds Paul,
as that was always your dream....
Love, Mom.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 18th, at 1 p.m., at the Valiant Air Warbird Museum in Titusville. In lieu of flowers, a donation box will be available at the service to help assist his mother with expenses or you may make a contribution to Air America Foundation, 1589 S. Wickham Road, West Melbourne, FL 32904."
I am deeply saddened to report the loss of my very dear friend, Founder and President of the Air America Foundation, Paul Vasconi.
Paul's unwavering dedication and commitment to telling the story of Air America and restoring our C-123 in their honor was an inspiration to us all, and his work will be carried on just as vigorously with his untimely passing. There will be a memorial service for Paul this Saturday at the Valiant Air Command Warbird Museum in Titusville, FL at 1pm. I have tried to reach everyone I can think of, but Paul had many friends in the Warbird world, and I'm hoping the one's I undoubtedly missed will see this.
Rest in piece my friend, you will not be forgotten...
~Trevor McIntyre, Air America Foundation
http://www.legacy.com/FloridaToday/Obit ... =129791751
"Dr. Paul Vasconi, DC -Palm Bay - Dr. Paul A. Vasconi, DC, a Chiropractic Physician in Palm Bay for over 30 years, passed away on Friday, July 3, 2009, at the age of 55. Paul was born in Clearwater, Florida. Paul was President of the Air America Foundation, restoring a C123 cargo plane that was used by the CIA for secret missions during the Vietnam War. His goal was to make the plane a flying museum and attend air shows through out the US telling their story and to honor Air Americas veterans. His wish is for the continuation of the many dedicated volunteers and financial support that would enable this plane to someday fly. The C123 is located at the Valiant Air Warbird Museum in Titusville. He is survived by his mother, Velia Vasconi; his fiance Cheryl Towle; Uncle, Joe Antonini; cousins, Lu Ann Berger and John Vasconi along with cousins in Ohio and Pennsylvania; and his devoted dog, Cocoa. He was preceded in death by his father, Albert Vasconi and half brother, Alfred P. Vasconi. Paul was a member of the Florida Chiropractic Association and a prior member of Palm Bay City Counsel, Council on Roentgenology of the American Chiropractic Association a Delegate to the Rotarian Convention in England, and a member of the Collings Foundation. Paul was a recipient of the following awards: Paul Harris Award from the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International, Brevards Best Chiropractor award from Florida Today, Recognition of Dedicated and Unselfish Donation of Time to the 1986 Kart Race for the Palm Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, Brotherhood Award for Distinguished Service To the Chiropractic Profession and to Humanity, Outstanding Leadership as President of the Palm Bay Rotary Club, Outstanding Service Award as Director of the Palm Bay Area Chamber of Commerce, Burnt Piston Award Southern Road Racing Series. Paul was a wonderful friend to everyone and never met a stranger who didn't like him. He always went of out his way to help anyone. He will be deeply missed by his mom, fiance Cheryl, his dog Cocoa, family and friends.
Fly high amongst the clouds Paul,
as that was always your dream....
Love, Mom.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, July 18th, at 1 p.m., at the Valiant Air Warbird Museum in Titusville. In lieu of flowers, a donation box will be available at the service to help assist his mother with expenses or you may make a contribution to Air America Foundation, 1589 S. Wickham Road, West Melbourne, FL 32904."
Fri Jul 17, 2009 3:13 am
I am truly sorry to hear that.
I briefly met him in 2002, and later on exchanged a few e-mails with him.
Godspeed, Paul.
Respectfully,
Tulio
I briefly met him in 2002, and later on exchanged a few e-mails with him.
Godspeed, Paul.
Respectfully,
Tulio
Fri Jul 17, 2009 8:47 am
He was a great guy amd a good friend. I met him as I was helping get tires for the C-123. They were moved from Wright Pat to my garage to Florida. When I went through my divorce, he checked in on me all the time to make sure I was OK. A great guy, and he will be missed.
Maddog - gone but not forgotten
Fri Jul 17, 2009 9:38 am
Paul had a wonderful way of getting everyone excited about a project or adventure, and he never let things like cost, distance, grim reality or scope of a project get in the way of a dream.
I met him two decades ago through the Collings Foundation as stop coordinators for the bombers. I thought the job of setting up one or two stops in Arizona was a daunting task, yet at one time Paul did the entire state of Florida for the group and spent countless hours on this mission. He made it seem so easy.
I remember a phone call one year when he'd been up two days straight without sleep applying donor names to the fuselages of the airplanes prior to the tour. He'd applied so many names to the bombers in such short of a time frame that his big worry was that in his haste he committed a mistake to someone by transposing letters. By the end of the application he was bone tired. His dry observation... "So many ethnic names, " he moaned. "Didja ever notice that 'Smith' is one of the most common names, yet do you think there's a one of them that'd go the distance to donate to this program?"
That was Paul. Even when things got to be the very worst - suffering through hurricanes, business down-turn, health issues, whatever, he always could joke about it. There was humor to be found in discomfort - especially his.
A Paul classic - "Maddog" trying to do a careful and thorough inspection of a derelict BT-13 sitting on an old airfield in southern Florida, keeping one eye on the parts and another upon an amorous miniature donkey that had taken a particular shine to him. His version of the "dog and pony" show told at the bar - complete with sound affects of a lovesick donkey - brought down the house. The moral of the story was never to turn one's back to to man nor beast when buying an airplane project, as related first-hand.
But back to the names...
"When the B-17 gets to Phoenix, make sure to take a look on lower left side near the tail," he said. Sure enough, two months later, the 'Fort was here, and Paul's name was there on the roster.
I called him up during our stop to tease him, and he said, "Well, sooner or later I was gonna get my name on that airplane - figured I'd work from that tail back and one day it's gonna be under the co-pilot's window."
Old "Maddog" had the uncanny ability to get everyone on board with a project - whether it was chasing after BT-13 or C-123 parts or even a on-again, off-again PV-2.
His quest for airplane adventures was puntuated by his dry and very wry sense of humor, and he was the kind of guy who never let hard work on any project get in the way of a long lunch or a cold beer at the end of the day. Our road trips together were a comedy of errors - I'd be worrying about distance, time, fuel burn and getting parts moved from A to B, and Paul would discount all of this with a simple, "When do you wanna grab a bite to eat?
I'm gonna miss you, buddy. We had so many more adventures and treasure hunts out there to chase, and the little aviation world around me is indeed dark and sad with your most un-timely passing.
- Rob
I met him two decades ago through the Collings Foundation as stop coordinators for the bombers. I thought the job of setting up one or two stops in Arizona was a daunting task, yet at one time Paul did the entire state of Florida for the group and spent countless hours on this mission. He made it seem so easy.
I remember a phone call one year when he'd been up two days straight without sleep applying donor names to the fuselages of the airplanes prior to the tour. He'd applied so many names to the bombers in such short of a time frame that his big worry was that in his haste he committed a mistake to someone by transposing letters. By the end of the application he was bone tired. His dry observation... "So many ethnic names, " he moaned. "Didja ever notice that 'Smith' is one of the most common names, yet do you think there's a one of them that'd go the distance to donate to this program?"
That was Paul. Even when things got to be the very worst - suffering through hurricanes, business down-turn, health issues, whatever, he always could joke about it. There was humor to be found in discomfort - especially his.
A Paul classic - "Maddog" trying to do a careful and thorough inspection of a derelict BT-13 sitting on an old airfield in southern Florida, keeping one eye on the parts and another upon an amorous miniature donkey that had taken a particular shine to him. His version of the "dog and pony" show told at the bar - complete with sound affects of a lovesick donkey - brought down the house. The moral of the story was never to turn one's back to to man nor beast when buying an airplane project, as related first-hand.
But back to the names...
"When the B-17 gets to Phoenix, make sure to take a look on lower left side near the tail," he said. Sure enough, two months later, the 'Fort was here, and Paul's name was there on the roster.
I called him up during our stop to tease him, and he said, "Well, sooner or later I was gonna get my name on that airplane - figured I'd work from that tail back and one day it's gonna be under the co-pilot's window."
Old "Maddog" had the uncanny ability to get everyone on board with a project - whether it was chasing after BT-13 or C-123 parts or even a on-again, off-again PV-2.
His quest for airplane adventures was puntuated by his dry and very wry sense of humor, and he was the kind of guy who never let hard work on any project get in the way of a long lunch or a cold beer at the end of the day. Our road trips together were a comedy of errors - I'd be worrying about distance, time, fuel burn and getting parts moved from A to B, and Paul would discount all of this with a simple, "When do you wanna grab a bite to eat?
I'm gonna miss you, buddy. We had so many more adventures and treasure hunts out there to chase, and the little aviation world around me is indeed dark and sad with your most un-timely passing.
- Rob
Re: Paul Vasconi, President of the AAM Foundation has gone West
Tue Aug 31, 2010 1:31 pm
I just found this post on Google. I grew up with Paul in Clearwater, went to school with him from 1st grade through 10th, (when I moved to Bradenton). Played with Paul in both JFK Jr. High band and Clearwater HS band. After I moved, we fell out of touch, but I will always remember his great sense of humor.My best to all his friends and his mom, as you will be missed.
Godspeed.
Walter Hall