~ IN MEMORY ~
Military veteran, DL Capt. William Poddick
Jr.
October 14, 1938 ~ April 18, 2018
Belated news... as noted this month in
ALPA’s magazine In Memoriam Column, the passing of Delta Golden Wings
member retired Delta pilot Captain William Poddick Jr., age 79. I believe
born/raised in Florida and a military veteran, Captain Poddick joined Delta Air
Lines 06-13-1966 and retired with Delta in May 1997. He was based earlier at
Miami and DFW, then 031/ATL at the time of his retirement. Captain Poddick had most recently resided in Tavernier,
FLorida. No other details could be found.
If anyone has additional information to share,
corrections/updates are always appreciated.
Thank you,
~ Carol for the PCN
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From: Gerald B Smith [mailto:geraldbsmith38@gmail.com] Subject: William
Poddick
Bill
was a good friend for many years when we flew out of Dallas for Delta. He was a
member of the Navy Skeet Team and taught Carolyn and I to shoot sheet before we
both began a long stretch of competetive skeet shooting. He was also an expert
in shooting International Skeet and live pigeons. Bill and I also did a lot of
bird hunting in Texas and shared a rather perilous goat hunt in Alaska. He was a
unique individual.
Thanks,
Jerry
Willie was my best friend for 10 years, the last 10 years of his life. He lived two streets away from me in Tavernier Florida. I would love to give you information, Trinity
ReplyDeleteHi Trinity - You were indeed very close to Willy. I can add info to Jerry's summary. Poddick's parents were German immigrants and his father was a captain of Rockefeller's Miami based yacht. Bill graduated from eithe Miami or Jackson High and then Univ. Fla. before joining USN. He was a Vietnam vet flying cargo and people into Vietnam, mostly from Okinawa. We became friends when I was in Grad School and working for Bell Helicopter in 1968, then best friends and hunting buddies from there.
DeleteHe introduced me to International skeet and Pigeon shooting and we hunted and fished mostly in Texas, Mexico, Uruguay and Ireland - sometimes the Keys until skin cancer kept cropping up.
I had the distinction of introducing him to his wife (the Raptor) Diane. That was a train wreck that ultimately led to his demise, but Trinity became a very close friend during and after Hurricane Diane to help him during some very tough times.
I think of Poddick often. I also think he was one of a handful of the best all-around shotgunners, any sport, that I have ever seen and I knew a lot of top shooters. More than that he had a wicked sense of humor and unassailable integrity.
R.I.P. Willy, hopefully Star and Pete were there to greet you when you crossed the Bridge.