Easter trip ends in tragedy for Springboro pilot, daughter

Tom and daughter Kacie Hausfeld. Contributed photo.

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Kacie Hausfeld in 2006 when she played volleyball for Alter High School.

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Staff photo by Ron Alvey Officials investigate a single-engine plane crash at the Wright Brothers Airport, located on Ohio 741 in Miamisburg.

Deaths of prominent businessman, UD athlete shock community

By Anthony Gottschlich, Staff Writer Updated 9:56 AM Friday, April 2, 2010

MIAMISBURG — Two lives were lost when a University of Dayton volleyball player and her philanthropist father perished in a single-engine plane crash after takeoff at Dayton-Wright Brothers Airport on Thursday afternoon, April 1.

The loss to the Dayton community, however, is immeasurable, say those who knew the victims, pilot Tom Hausfeld, 50, of Springboro, and daughter Kacie, 21, a junior early childhood education major at UD.

“Tom was a phenomenal man, he had a huge heart, huge heart,” said longtime friend Sam Borchers, whose daughters played volleyball with Hausfeld’s daughters. “He gave to so many organizations. ... He always thought about others, what he could do to help others.”

Hausfeld, a successful businessman who retired a few years ago, gave generously to St. Henry’s Catholic parish and Bishop Leibold School in Miami Twp. and to Alter High School in Kettering, where he served on the board of directors, Borchers said. But more than that, he was devoted to family — wife Lori and daughters Ali, a student at the Stritch School of Medicine at Loyola University Chicago, and Kacie. “It was all about the girls,” Borchers said.

Hausfeld’s plane was en route to a suburban Chicago airport when he reported a cargo door was open, FAA spokeswoman Elizabeth Cory said. Witnesses say the Beechcraft Bonanza tried to turn back to the runway but banked too low, touching the ground with its left wing. The plane cartwheeled and exploded about a 1,000 feet south of Runway 2.

Borchers called Hausfeld a “very intelligent man” and skilled pilot. “I know he wouldn’t go up in a plane, especially with his daughter, without triple checking everything,” he said.

At the Borchers home in Miami Twp., a red-eyed Emily Borchers, 21, remembered friend Kacie as a hard worker and natural leader with a warm, inviting personality, much like her father.

“With our Alter team (which captured two state titles with Kacie as setter), she was the core of the team,” Emily said.

UD President Daniel J. Curran issued a statement Thursday evening, saying, “Our prayers and deepest sympathy are with the Hausfeld family and all of Kacie’s friends and teammates. This is a very close community, and this kind of loss touches us all deeply. In times like these, we come together to support the family and each other.”

A prayer service and time of gathering will be held at 9 p.m. Monday, April 5, at the Immaculate Conception Chapel on UD’s campus.

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