John H Buchel

John H. Buchel, Major (retired), Royal Netherlands Air Force, of Pensacola Florida, passed September 7, 2022 surrounded by family and caregivers. John was born April 10, 1927 in Amsterdam, N.L. to Martinus and Alida Buchel. John is survived by a loving and caring family, son in law, Bill Craft (Alida d), Granddaughter Melissa (Sam) Gindville and Great Grandson John Gindville. He was preceded in death by his wife of 71 years Lily Buchel, Daughter Alida Craft and granddaughter Leanna Craft. During WW2 John joined the resistance (Jan van Gilse group) after his older brother was taken to Germany for forced labor. After the war ended John joined the Royal Dutch Netherlands Army, First 7th December Division, training in Great Britain and Northern Ireland and was deployed for 39 months to Indonesia. After his army duties ended, he joined the Army Aviation Department, now The Royal Netherlands Air Force and trained in de Havilland Tiger Moths, Twin Beechcraft and C47’s. Before immigrating to the US in the early 60’s he held posts in Den Helder,N.L., was the youngest navigation instructor at the Royale Dutch Military Academy in Breda N.L., a NATO sector controller and a Air Force Liaison with US occupying forces in Germany. It was there he met Lt Col Rockwell (Rocky) Rutledge USMC, a fellow aviator and Korean war veteran, who convinced him to consider the US good climate. After moving to the US, John held jobs of increasing importance. Being multilingual with distinguished negotiating skills, he worked his way up and retired as Vice President of International Operations, ITT Fluid Technologies. This allowed him to see the world. A longtime private pilot he continued to fly his piper into his mid 80’s and developed longtime friendships with fellow aviators. He was a volunteer at the National Naval Aviation Museum in the mid 90’s. For his 95th birthday, the Saturday meeting group, with whom he joined for donuts and history at Peter Prince airport, took him into the sky for his final flight, which he navigated with ease. Like his wife and daughter, he was always dedicated and kind to his family and friends. A special thank you to the Granny Nannies, Doctors, Nurses and Covenant Healthcare for their dedicated help and determination to give a caring end to an exceptionally long, full life. Any contributions to Young Pilots USA or The Salvation Army would be appreciated.

Tributes

John H Buchel

April 10, 1927 - September 7, 2022