Published July 2005

Terwedo takes to skies
to help others

By John Wolcott
SCBJ Editor

A year ago, Edmonds financial adviser and pilot Dale Terwedo flew into Red Bluff municipal airport in Southern California to pick up Tanya Kennedy, 36, of Lake Stevens and her three children, Josh, Josie and Joey, for a return flight to Paine Field — for free.

Having been treated for a brain tumor at Loma Linda University, Kennedy needed her own special, private flight home. Terwedo was there to provide it. That was his first "Angel Flight" but not his last.

"My first Angel Flight was a difficult one," Terwedo recalled. "The weather was moving in, and shortly after takeoff I got into the clouds north of Redding. I didn't pop out of them until the final approach at Paine Field, four hours later. When you're doing hand-flying without an autopilot it can get pretty intense."

Later, he flew from Paine Field to Spokane to pick up Addie Tom, an 11-year-old girl from Montana who needed to fly to Seattle for her kidney transplant preparation at Children's Hospital. Last February, he was reunited with Addie on a similar flight from Spokane to Seattle for a follow-up medical check on her new kidney.

Then he flew critically ill Kailee Wells, 7, and her father, Owen, from Seattle to Vancouver, British Columbia, for treatment for her aplastic anemia, a rare and often fatal disease that demanded a successful search for a bone marrow donor. Being adopted, she had no family marrow matches, but Vancouver's large population of Asians and Pacific Islanders offered her more opportunities to find an acceptable donor. In February, Kailee received her transplant, Terwedo said.

"I just like making a difference in people's lives, whether it's helping them plan their financial future or helping them to get long-distance medical care when they can't afford air transportation or can't travel on commercial airlines," said Terwedo, owner of Terwedo Financial Services LLC. "I just love helping people — and I love flying. Angel Flights give me more reasons for flying and a chance to help people, too, especially kids."

He's put his five-passenger Cessna P-206 to good use so far, earning an Angel Flight certificate for making 10 flights in 2004. He's one of the 1,600 pilots in Angel Flight West who fly more than 2,750 free, charitable mercy flights annually in 13 Western states, including 345 flights in Washington state last year.

"I can go bore holes in the sky with my plane anytime, but it's a lot more fun when there's a purpose behind my flying and I can share my love for flying with someone else," Terwedo said. "It's also marvelous to see the courage and faith these sick young kids have. If they're well enough to enjoy the flight, they love the flying, the clouds and listening to the aviation calls on the radio through their headsets."

His wife, Tara, sometimes joins him on flights, too.

"She has a good eye for things that will make kids feel more comfortable, such as fingernail painting for Addie on her flight from Spokane," he said.

Like most things he takes on, Terwedo went full bore into flying when he began lessons in April 2001, on his 42nd birthday.

"I thought about things I wanted to do in life, things I didn't want to wish I had done when I got to my death bed," he said. "After nine weeks, I had my private license. With a lot of simulator time, I had my instrument rating by January 2002. By December that year, I had my commercial license and my multi-engine license by April 2003."

Since joining Angel Flight West in July 2003, Terwedo has flown 16 missions, enjoying a feeling that he's "giving back" something to his community, using his flying skills and financial stability to help others, noting that while he makes Angel Flights, his staff is able to maintain his business.

"Our clients are very understanding about my being gone. In fact, they're really supportive. We've even gotten some new clients because they admire my role in Angel Flight," said Terwedo, who donates his time, aircraft, fuel and flying skills to help people in need.

Angel Flight West is a not-for-profit grass-roots organization based in Santa Monica, Calif. Geographically, it's the largest of six autonomous nonprofit Angel Flight America groups in the central, south central, northeast, mid-Atlantic and southeast sections of the nation. Mercy Medical Airlift operates as a seventh AFA nonprofit member to arrange long-distance commercial flights.

For more information, contact Dale Terwedo, Terwedo Financial Services LLC, www.tfsaadvisors.com, 425-776-0446, or Angel Flight Washington, www.angelflight.org/washington, Fred Jossy, Washington Wing Leader, 425-488-0203.

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