Hi all,
I am the daughter of Lee Holley. Thank you for your kind words.
I know Mike said he reached out to the family, and I wanted to apologize for the lateness of responding.
Thank you very much to the Mooney family for your generous donation.
This was such a shock to the family, but I take a lot of comfort in knowing that dad died doing something he truly loved.
I have many fond memories of flying up to Sunriver, Oregon, and the quick trips to the "Flying Lady" restaurant in Morgan Hill for lunch. Dad absolutely loved flying, and he flew as much as possible. One of his favorite experiences was renting a plane in New Zealand and flying from the North Island to the South Island. (he kept the NZ pilot's license in his current flight log book)
He was also happy and proud to help the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Dept, when they needed detectives flown on long trips. I didn't know until after the memorial service that they had sent 2 plain clothes detectives to the service.
My father did everything by the book when it came to flying. I used be so disappointed as a kid that he wouldn't "buzz" the beach when we were flying together! And it was always fun watching my dad trying to tell my mom that "he had to lighten the load" before we could take off for our trip to Sunriver.
Everyone has been so great, especially the NTSB agent, the Monterey County Sheriff's Dept, and the Santa Cruz County Sheriff's dept. Having to deal with something like this so suddenly and unexpected was very difficult. This was definitely not the way I thought Dad would go out, but it only seems fitting, and much as he loved flying.
Rest in Peace Dad. I know you are up there still flying around!
