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New Hero Search Gary George Wohlfeil
- Mar. 05, 1964 -
(360)

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Alaska Fish & Game Service Patch
Resided: McGrath AK, USA
Born: Jul. 22, 1942  
Fallen: Mar. 05, 1964
Race/Sex: Caucasian Male / 21 yrs. of age
Agency
Dept: Alaska Dept. of Fish and Game
McGrath, AK   USA
Dept. Type: State/Police
Hero's Rank: Officer
Sworn Date: 7/1963
FBI Class: Accident - Police
Weapon Class: Aviation
Bio: Gary George Wohlfeil, 21, was born on July 22, 1942, in Detroit, MI, to Elmer and Ruth Wohlfeil. He was the second of four children (Carol, Gary, Linda, and Ricky). The Wohlfeil family moved to Barton City, MI, in 1946, when Gary was 4 and lived in a log cabin on Jewell Lake. Gary attended the Barton City Elementary School and graduated 2nd in a class of 64 from Alcona H.S. in Lincoln, MI, in 1960.

Gary Wohlfeil had dreamed of being a "bush pilot" in AK since he was six years old and "never wavered from that dream." During H.S. he worked for his father (a builder) and used the money to pay for flying lessons. Shortly after getting his pilot's license, he bought a small used plane (Piper Cub). After graduation from H.S. he attended the Northrup Institute of Technology in CA for one year to learn to be an airplane mechanic. He paid his way through school in CA by working at a gas station and baby-sitting for the owners.

After graduating from Northrup Gary returned to Barton City and began preparations to fulfill his dream of being a pilot in AK. In July of 1962, he taxied his small Piper Cub down the main street of Barton City and took off for AK. The flight to AK took one week and each evening Wohlfeil "landed in cornfields and camped out each night." He arrived in Fairbanks, AK, on July 22, 1962, his 20th birthday.

Wohlfeil immediately applied for a position as a game officer with the Alaska Fish and Game Department but was too young to be hired for a permanent position. However, because of his qualifications he was hired as a "temporary" until he reached the age of 21. During this time he lived in College, AK (near Fairbanks) with the Sam Snyder family.

Gary Wohlfeil was hired on a permanent basis by AK Fish & Game in July of 1963 and was a one-year veteran at the time of his death. He served as a "protection officer" (and as a pilot and mechanic) and was first stationed at Fairbanks. He also worked at Glennallen, Tok, and other stations "in the interior of the state" before being transferred to McGrath on March 1 (just a few days before his death).

Gary did return to Barton City, MI, for the Christmas holidays in 1963, and was anxious to return to his new home, AK. It was the last time his family saw him before his death three months later.

Survived by:
Elmer Wohlfeil - Father

and Ruth Wohlfeil, 48, of Barton City, MI; his siblings, Carol Wohlfeil Marshall, 29, of Alpena, MI; Linda Wohlfeil, 19, of Detroit, MI; and Ricky Wohlfeil, 7, all of Barton City, MI; and by his paternal grandparents, Mr. & Mrs. John Wohlfeil of Detroit.

Fatal Incident Summary
Offender: None
  
Location: Mountains   Farewell, AK   USA   Thu. Mar. 05, 1964
Summary: Alaska Fish and Game officers LeRoy G. Bohuslov, 38, and Gary Wohlfeil, 21, were killed in the crash of their "light aircraft" on March 5, 1964. The airplane, a Champion 150, disappeared and was found four days later crashed 15 miles northwest of Farewell. The two officers were stationed at McGrath (on the western coast of Alaska) and were "conducting a caribou survey" from McGrath to Farewell, Nicholi and Medfra at the time of the crash.

The last radio contact with the plane was at 12:04PM on March 5. Once it was apparent that the plane had disappeared, an intensive search was conducted. Bohuslov piloted the plane and knew the terrain well having worked in the area "for several years." The craft was "ski-equipped" and "carried a full emergency and survival gear."

"More than a dozen planes" began an intensive search for the missing plane the day of the disappearance. The search "team" included the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the AK Fish and Game, the Air National Guard, The U.S. Air Force, and "civilian guides and pilots." The search was co-ordinated by Bill Waldron, the "Civil Air Patrol leader in Anchorage." Two days later a newspaper reported that "thirty-five airplane crews flew 64 sorties without success over the rugged McGrath-Farewell area."

The crash site was discovered on March 9 (4 days after the accident). The small gray and orange Champion 150 airplane was buried in snow and difficult to spot from the air. The plane had crashed nose-first into the snow and had evidently hit the ground "at a sharp angle."

Source: Book       Excerpted in part or in whole from Dr. Wilbanks book-

FORGOTTEN HEROES: POLICE OFFICERS KILLED IN ALASKA, 1867-1998

By Dr. Wm. Wilbanks FL International University

To be published by Turner Publications in early 1999

Related: LeRoy Garvan Bohuslov
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