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Daughter of Pilot Says Father 'Lives In My Heart' At Memorial

Pilot Marvin Renslow.

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TBO.com

Published: February 20, 2009

Updated: 02/20/2009 09:24 pm

LUTZ - After being told her pilot father died in a plane crash, Kaley Renslow had a dream. In it, she said, she was able to hug and kiss him one more time. The 12-year-old said she truly believes he was there.

Renslow told several hundred people about the dream today at her father's memorial service at First Baptist Church of Lutz. He told her in the dream "that he would never leave me … that he is home, and he lives in my heart."

Marvin Dean Renslow, 47, was remembered as a family man who loved God, music and flying planes. He was the pilot of the commercial airplane that crashed into a home last week near Buffalo, N.Y., killing all 49 people aboard and a man in the house.

Renslow lived in Lutz in Pasco County with his wife and two children.

The Bombardier Dash 8 Q400 that Renslow piloted was about six miles from Buffalo Niagara International Airport on Feb. 12 when it lost its ability to fly, pitched sharply up and down and side to side before smashing into the home and bursting into flames.

Investigators are still piecing together what led to the crash. Kaley said she knows. "My dad did everything he could to save the lives of the people on his plane, but it was just his time, along with everyone else.''

Renslow had been a member of the Lutz church since 1997. The Rev. Alan Burner, associate pastor, said Renslow was part of the church family.

Friend and fellow musician Ken James said Renslow was a family man with quiet strength. He said Renslow was honest, fun loving and filled with integrity.

Renslow's son Tyler, 17, said his father was a true captain – and not just in the air.

"He was the head of a lot of things in his day and age," Tyler Renslow said. "He was the head of our family. He was someone to look up to."

Renslow, an Iowa native, developed a passion for flight when he was 5 years old. He had several careers but began his piloting career in 2003 as a pilot for Gulf Stream International Airlines.

He had begun flying the Dash 8 in December, accumulating 110 hours since then; his copilot had 774 hours in the plane model.

As a pilot, he had no prior accidents, incidents or enforcements, according to Roland Herwig of the Federal Aviation Administration. He joined Colgan Air, which operated the flight, on Sept. 9, 2005, according to its parent company, Pinnacle Airlines.

An account has been set up for Renslow's children to help pay for college educations. The account has been established at the Suncoast Schools Federal Credit Union, 1837 Collier Parkway in Lutz. Checks should be made payable to Renslow BNI. Account number 4433106 should be on the memo line of the check.

The family of another local man killed in the crash also mourned his absence today.

This afternoon, Nicole Yarber, the daughter of Clay Yarber, a former Bay area musician who was a passenger on the plane, held a news conference. Clay Yarber, a wounded Vietnam veteran, lived in Pinellas County until last year. He played guitar in local bands.

Nicole said she is still learning to live with the fact he died in the crash."I guess that was his fate," said Nicole Yarber.

If she is angry, she's not showing it. If she wants someone held accountable, she's not saying it.

But she does want everyone to know what it's like to be one of the surviving relatives of the victims in that crash. After the air disaster, she gathered in Buffalo with other families for a tour sponsored and organized by Continental so the families could see for themselves what happened.

"On the crash site, it was mostly silence. Crying, there was a lot of crying and hugging. It was a lot to take in seeing that. It looks a lot different in person than it does on television," Yarber said.

Since then, she said, it has been hard to grieve, much less find peace, because the phone calls won't stop. There have been so many calls from reporters and others that she had to change her phone number.

Clearwater attorney George Tragos says Continental has given Yarber's family, and the families of other survivors, an unspecified amount of money with no strings attached to handle expenses related to travel and funeral costs.

Friends and family are planning a memorial service Monday at Harvest Temple on 13301 Walsingham Road in Largo, Nicole Yarber said. The reception starts at 6 p.m. The service begins at 7:30 p.m. Well-wishers will gather later at the Ringside Café in St. Petersburg.

In lieu of donations, Yarber said, donations can be made to the Marine Semper Fi Fund for injured marines. Information on the fund can be found at www.semperfifund.org.

Pam Jones, who also said she is Yarber's daughter, said the memorial events Nicole Yarber is organizing aren't authorized by the rest of the family.

"Our family has not been able to reach Nicole, nor has she reached out to any member of our immediate family regarding these events which she has scheduled via media outlets," Jones wrote in a media statement. "Clay Yarber received two purple hearts, two silver stars, and a bronze star for his efforts in the Vietnam war. His life and heroism will be properly honored and respected by a memorial service held at the National Cemetery in his hometown of Dayton, Ohio at a further date."

Reporter Keith Morelli and News Channel 8 reporter Mark Douglas contributed to this report. Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. Reporter Josh Poltilove can be reached at (813) 259-7691.

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