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Dave Vogl (a pilot's remembrance by Joe Dezso)
Note: many members of the Mira Costa Class of 1960 got to know Dave Vogl through Karen Aabel Vogl, his wife of 56 years. Her news item on this website includes a remembrance of Dave written by their son. Joe saw that and wrote the item below in March of 2020 to express his own feelings about the news of Dave's passing. I think I first met Dave at a track meet in1960, my senior year at MCHS. We were both pole vaulters. I remember that evening because he was suffering from a pulled stomach muscle and wasn't doing well, but decided to compete anyway. Later that year, I gave Dave and Karen an airplane ride. At one of our reunions, Dave told me that the flight I gave him was his first airplane ride (see photo below of the Luscombe Sedan we flew in). I'm sure you know that he went on to become a fighter pilot in Vietnam, then a captain for United Airlines. I've also included a photo of Dave just back from a mission in his F4 Phantom and another photo of Dave flying a 747 across the Pacific.  
 I didn't stay in touch with Dave or Karen over the years, but Dave contacted me around June 2017, after reading a short article of mine that appeared in Flying magazine. After that, we began a regular email correspondence on a variety of topics, mostly related to aviation. We discussed maneuvers I was practicing and had a little difficulty with. He suggested some new ones, which I then tried. Dave's approach to flying was all about precision. My discussions with him and the maneuvers he suggested actually made me a better pilot--quite an accomplishment for a person living thousands of miles away! Imagine what might have happened if he had actually been in the aircraft with me. My last contact with Dave was in June 2019. He had moved in with his daughter in northern California, but was no longer able to use his computer due to the stroke he suffered. I tried a couple of times to communicate, but I could tell from his short replies that typing was very difficult for him. Here is a guy who fought cancer bravely and optimistically. I was so impressed with his courage and good humor. Throughout all the pain and discomfort, he kept going. If anybody ever deserved a remission from that horrible disease, it was Dave. Then, in November 2018, it finally happened: Tests revealed that no cancer could be detected. Dave was so happy and ecstatic. After all the painful, stressful years of fighting cancer, it was finally over. He was looking forward to regaining his strength, riding his bicycle again and just enjoying life. A happy ending to Dave's story? I'm afraid not. Seems that fate was not satisfied with all his suffering; he had to be knocked down again. In 2019, he had a devastating stroke. Though I was not able to communicate with him after the stroke, I imagined that this must have taken away any fight left in him. And the loss of his physical health was not the only blow--for Dave, at least. Years before, after he retired from United, his lost his pension when United went into bankruptcy! He died in December 2019. Is this some cruel joke of nature? How unjust it is for anyone to experience this degree of suffering. I know that many people and their families experience loss; it's part of the human condition. It may seem naive of me to think that death and loss should follow some sort of evenhanded rules. I know they don't, but my sense of fairness feels violated, leading to my feelings of frustration and anger. -Joe Dezso (MCHS '60) |
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