Farewell Karl Kretschmer

IIRC, I met Karl at a Region 1 contest in Springfield, VT back in 1995, when he was crewing for son-in-law Ken. The soaring was good but it was almost unbearably hot and my daughters, who were 18 months old, were a handful for my then wife, Tanya, and mother-in-law, Ivanka. I recall the latter really enjoyed chatting with Karl that week. I can't say they felt the same way about soaring (it wasn't a great contest for the crews, much less one on babysitting duty) but they shared some affinity for the German language, which Ivanka had spoken as a translator in Bulgaria before the fall of the Iron Curtain. She ended up having a great time at the contest, partly due to the pleasant hours conversing with Karl. Condolences to Ken and Karen.

Chip Bearden
ASW 24 "JB"