On February 26, 2013, Charles Russell Vanderstelt died of a heart attack.   He served in the Korean War and was an Aviation mechanic in the civilian world.   After leaving the military he married my mother and  went to Northrup Aeronautics School under the GI bill.  He started Van's Aviation at Reid Hillview Airport in California.  My dad suffered from severe alcoholism and at one point my parents divorced - I was still a baby then.

Aviation as a trade, didn't go to well after President Reagan took office, and my fathers business went downhill.   My father found it hard to keep steady work so often times he moved around to find work.  He lost his business Van's Aviation.   My dad said that prior to the Reagan era, there were people from every trade that flew a plane, and it became restricted to people who were very well off -- as a result there was much less business.  

My father was later a part of a Nasa Project, that he got through aviation connections, and made the 1st plane fly without magnetos - because of his aviation connections, it was also part of a spy plane project for the military - which apparently (and rightfully so) hit a dead end when he left.   He did not get credit for making aviation history (which was 1 of the many reasons he left) even though the historical flight was solely because of his own mechanical efforts and knowledge.  But the patent holder of the invention (who did not even touch the plane mechanically to make the miracle flight) and the pilot took credit and said nothing of all the work my father put into the project.  After quitting my father was offered a job with the Sky Car (as seen on Nova).  Again my father experienced the harsh and corrupt business world and the SkyCar project head (Meuller) tried to black-male my father to tell him all the information about the previous project he worked on.  He told him deliver the information by a set time or don't bother showing up for work -  so again my father was without a job despite his contributions to aviation.

My father had to have stents put in him because of a health problem (but he said they were not necessary afterword and it was a big mistake getting them because he was in that bad of condition when he went to the hospital).  Now he not only had employment problems, money problems, he now had to deal with stents in him.

My father lost his license due to a previous dui - he thought all along his license was active.  He had already got it taken care of in Idaho where it occurred but California demanded he redo a dui course which he had to pay for and he had already done.  The dui was very old and my father didn't even hardly drink anymore.    He was on a very limited budget, at 79 yrs old he was living out of his RV without a license.  After a long drawn out dispute with the DMV  he had an appointment with the DMV on Feb 26th 2013 in Manteca.  He got very angry at the DMV because they would not give his drivers license and apparently had a heart attack after standing in very long lines and being treated like a 2nd class citizen.  He called 911 from his RV, they took him to the hospital where his heart stopped 3 times and he ultimately died in the hospital in Modesto California.

I'm not going to my father's funeral because I don't get along with my sister's husband or his family that will be at my father's funeral.  They really won't be there because they are friends of my father but because they want keep their "impression" / status but they honestly didn't care about him - that much is obvious.   If I go I will get in a fight with them because of the way they treated him and I surely end up in jail for my actions in defending my father's honor.  I would rather remember my father in a happy way so I've made this tribute to him.  My father's life energy is gone - he has left this earth.  I see no point in going to a funeral and looking over his remains and getting thrown in jail after I do what I will do to a certain somebody who will be there.  I miss my father - he and I were good friends and I talked to him frequently - many times for hours a night and I will miss his conversations and stories.  It will not be the same with him gone.   

I spoke to my father quiet often.  He often spoke about his health and the problems he had with his doctors not listening to him.  In fact most people didn't want to hear it but I spent quiet a good deal of time listening to him and sympathizing with him. The doctors don't care about the patient - they care about making money.  It is very tragic for me to lose him like this.

He also told me quite frequently how my brotherinlaw would harass him - because he was living on his property.  Despite my father contributing to my bortherinlaw's business (helping him make money like many have helped this man) - he rebuilt engines for him and helped him in his shop.  I've worked for my brotherinlaw and can tell you he is not the type of person you want to work for.  He mistreats people, is an abusive drunk / drug user, underpays people, doesn't provide benefits, and will not train people to make more money.  In fact if it weren't for my brotherinlaw's causing problems my family would be a lot closer - his wife often defends him despite the fact he has cheated on her many times (I've seen it myself when I worked with him) and he may have children with another woman named Becky.  Even though he was caught with pictures of her in his wallet - my sister believes she was just a friend.  

My brotherinlaw slandered my father by saying he was a just a cook to my nephew and niece who apparently grew up believing the slander my brotherinlaw said about him - even though his father is rumored to be a pedophile teacher (a girl from his class came forward about him in a bar and told him directly she had slept with his father) and his father shot himself many years ago and is known to have often cheated on his wife as well.

For the record the regiment that my father served in is the most highly decorated regiment  (the 5th Regiment) in the Marine Corps and my father did his duty for the country in the Korean war - unlike my brotherinlaw who never served. I personally haven't served but I at least don't bad mouth people that have - especially war veterans whom have served in wars oversees.  My father was not a cook - he was not a draft dodger - he was just a country boy from a Dutch American farming family that joined the Marines and became an aviator.   My father had a long list of friends as well (in aviation and military friends) - many had passed away before him so he is one of the last of his group to say goodbye to mother earth.