Jeffrey Ulrich, 50, was an experienced recreational pilot who flew to Middletown a couple times a month to visit his mother, June Ulrich, who lived on Marshall Road, said Rich Bevis, airport manager at Hook Field.
His mother died in October 2009 of cancer, and his father, Arthur, died in 2006.
Bevis called Jeff Ulrich “a super nice guy” who flew his plane everywhere.
Rachel McClain says her husband taught Jeff Ulrich and was his tennis coach at Carlisle High School.
She said she saw the plane crash on the news, but didn’t learn it was someone she knew until later.
“You never think you’re going to know the person involved,” she said.
Bevis said he heard over the weekend about a plane crashing into a high school. Then when he learned the pilot was a Middletown native and a good friend, he “almost threw up.” He called Ulrich’s death “a sad, sad ending to a great life.”
Ulrich’s aunt, Helen Ihle of Middletown, said her nephew, who had served in the U.S. Marine Corps and worked as a special agent for the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in Florida, was on a family vacation headed to the Grand Canyon at the time of the accident.
The family stopped in Eagar, Ariz., to refuel. For an unknown reason, their plane circled a high school two or three times before it did a nose-dive into the building before exploding, Ihle said.
Ulrich, who was his high school class president, was “a loving father and a great, great guy,” she said.
He never missed an opportunity to visit his mother before she died, Ihle said.
The family has been buried in the Wesley Chapel, Fla., area, but a local memorial service is planned this week, his aunt said.
Ihle said a visitation is 10 a.m. Saturday, June 26, followed by a memorial service at 11 a.m. at Monroe United Methodist Church, 206 East Ave., Monroe.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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