For those that didn't know, the Aerofiles website may come to an end soon, and it has so much valuable and detailed information.
http://www.legacy.com:80/obituaries/san ... =127620248
K.O. Eckland ShareE-mail Visit Guest Book
K.O. Eckland, 83, passed away Monday, May 4, 2009, at his home in Paradise, Calif. K.O. was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up in Berkeley, Calif. While in the U.S. Army Air Corps during World War II, he met his future wife, Lucille Callison, a USO girl, in Spokane, Wash. They lived in Shell Beach for a few years where K.O. was a freelance commercial artist, then they moved to Los Angeles where he became a commercial artist for the Los Angeles Times. In 1976, K.O. returned to Pismo Beach, where he contributed articles to the Telegram-Tribune. He became active in the local traditional jazz community and helped establish the annual Pismo Beach Jazz Festival "Jubilee by the Sea," as well as produced the monthly jazz newsletter, Offbeat for the Central Coast Hot Jazz Society, also known as the Basin Street Regulars. K.O. Eckland left behind a large body of work - a favorite part of which was the Aerofiles.com website, as his greatest love was flying airplanes. He illustrated Richard Bach''s book "A Gift of Wings," and contributed articles to aviation magazines over the years. K.O. was proud to be a member of the San Luis Obispo Sheriff''s Aero Squadron and had been active with the Paso Robles Estrella Warbird Museum. K.O.''s second greatest love was traditional jazz. After hearing Turk Murphy at Earthquake McGoon''s in San Francisco and Lu Watters'' Yerba Buena Jazz Band in Berkeley after the War, he wanted to play jazz piano. He played piano in several bands over the years, notably the Firehouse Five Plus 2, the Desolation Jazz Ensemble & Mess Kit Repair Battalion and the Pismo Experimental Jazz Band. K.O. produced two compendiums of jazz bands and musicians, Jazz West and Jazz West 2. He enjoyed writing tunes which have been recorded by contemporary traditional jazz bands. K.O. had moved to Paradise in 2004 to be close to family members, where he also shared the remainder of his life with Waldo, the cat. K.O. leaves his children Daniel and his wife Faye Eckland, who have adopted Waldo, Nancy Berkley and Taina Eckland; ex-wife, Lucille Eckland; and two grandsons Ryan and Beau Berkley. A memorial will take place at the Pismo Beach "Jubilee by the Sea" October 2009.
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Roger Cain
www.sfahistory.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Stearman/
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