~ IN MEMORY ~
Military veteran, NWA Capt. Jim Bestul
July 28, 1933 - November 7, 2019
Belated notification with the passing of RNPA member retired
Northwest pilot Captain James Allen Bestul, age 86. Captain Bestul joined Northwest Airlines 03-13-1959. He is survived by his wife Nancy, their
children and grandchildren, plus many other dear friends and family members.
Obituary information is still available online at
For those wishing to send a personal note, whitepages lists
the family residence as
4964 Devonshire Circle,
Excelsior MN 55331-9329.
Thank you,
~ Carol for the PCN
Obituary……… for James Allen Bestul
Bestul, James Allen of Excelsior age 86 (Jim) Beloved
husband of 60 years of Nancy (Chapman) Bestul flew west for the last time on
Nov 7, 2019. Son of Sylvan and Rebecca (Ensberg) Bestul. Born in Washington DC.
Grew up in Arlington VA and Bremerton WA. Graduated from Capital U in 1955.
Served proudly as a Naval Aviator and was a pilot for Northwest Airlines for 34
years. He loved flying, airplanes and sailing but loved all the special family
times even more. Summers sailing on Lake Superior was a family highlight for
many summers. Once computers became available in the '80's he embraced the
technology with enthusiasm. A pencil and paper project categorizing all
American airplanes became a huge computer program of over 8000 airplanes. This
program, which was still growing at the time of his death, is at the
Smithsonian Air and Space Museum. He is survived by brother, Bruce (Geraldine);
sons, Greg (Terri) and Doug (Rhonda); a proud Papa/Grandpa of Kimberly, Erica,
Laura, Matthew and Alex. Services on Monday Nov. 18 at 10 A.M. at Mt. Calvary
Lutheran Church, 301 County Rd. 19, Excelsior. Visitation one hour prior to
service. Interment at Ft. Snelling. In lieu of flowers donations please to
American Lung Association, 55 Wacker Dr., Suite 1150, Chicago, IL 60601 Lung.org.
Washburn-McReavy.com Strobeck Johnson 952-938-9020
‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘‘
Jim Bestul, Pilot Love of flying led to immense aircraft
cataloging project
Star Tribune: Newspaper of the Twin Cities (Minneapolis, MN)
- Sunday, November 24, 2019
James "Jim" Bestul lived and breathed airplanes.
He flew Navy seaplanes, commercial planes for Northwest Airlines and his own
private aircraft in his spare time.
Still, there were thousands of other planes out there. He
started cataloging all U.S. planes, meticulously recording details like engine
type, tail configuration and how many of each was built. The database, which
encompassed more than 15,000 planes, caught the attention of the Smithsonian
National Air and Space Museum, where some of the records are kept today.
"He just loved airplanes," said son Doug, an Apple
Valley pilot. "That whole dimension of being able to fly gets in your
blood."
Bestul, 86, of Excelsior, died Nov. 7 of pulmonary fibrosis
at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis.
The oldest of two boys, Bestul was born in Washington, D.C.,
and grew up in Virginia and Washington state. After graduating from Capital
University in Columbus, Ohio, he joined the Navy in 1955 and began flying
seaplanes, a path that took him to Bermuda.
There he met Nancy Chapman, who was teaching sixth grade at
a school for military dependents. She had mutual friends with Bestul, who bore
a resemblance to Johnny Carson, she recalled. The couple hit it off at a
squadron party.
"I was absolutely blown away," she said. "I
knew right then and there."
They married in 1959 and moved to Bloomington, where Bestul
flew for Northwest Airlines. After being laid off, he re-entered the Navy and
eventually flew support transport planes for the Blue Angels, the flight
demonstration squadron known for its aerobatics. By the time the family
returned to Minnesota in 1964, the couple had two sons, Doug and Greg.
He was "a very hands-on dad," Nancy Bestul said,
leading his sons' Boys Scout troops, teaching them woodworking and taking the
family on sailboat excursions that began on Lake Minnetonka and later moved to
Lake Superior. She remembered her husband tying balloons to the sailboat's
shrouds and letting the children shoot them down.
Quiet, calm and confident, he was suited to sailing and
flying, Nancy Bestul said, since "nothing seemed to ruffle his
feathers."
Jim Bestul began his plane cataloging project in the 1970s
and learned computer languages so he could transfer the paper-and-pencil
records to a database in 1982. "He became a very early adopter of
computers and technology," Doug Bestul said. "He was a gadget
guy."
His collection, which included registration numbers for 855,000
individual planes, landed at the Smithsonian after staffers from an airplane
magazine told the museum director about the project. In exchange, the museum
sent Bestul laserdiscs featuring photos of 200,000 planes to add to his
database.
"He was like a kid in a candy store," Doug Bestul
said.
His childlike side also came out with his grandchildren, who
relished playing dolls with him, said his granddaughter Erica, of Minocqua,
Wis. She remembers that when she and her sister, Laura, were afraid of
venturing downstairs at their grandparents' house, their "Papa"
invented a "Ghostbusters" game and played it for years, calling in
pretend ghost sightings while wearing special shirts, writing on custom
stationery and talking over a real intercom. They used a garden hose to fight off
spirits, Erica Bestul said.
"He was so good with us, so patient," she said.
"He was definitely the glue that held our family together."
Besides his wife, son Doug and granddaughter Erica, Bestul
is survived by son Greg of Lester Prairie, Minn.; brother Bruce of Apple Valley,
Calif.; and four other grandchildren. Services have been held.
