Crash victim remembered for generosity, humility

MAT-SU — A successful Valley businessman and aviator, John Eshleman liked to fly under the radar.

As the spark plug behind the development of the Wolf Lake community and airfield, Eshleman’s efforts were key in making the Wolf Lake Airport one of the premiere private airstrips in the state. Eshleman died Aug. 1 when the Fairchild C-123 cargo plane he was in crashed in Denali National Park.

He was one of three on board the plane, which was hauling a large generator to the village of Unalakleet. Also killed was the plane’s owner and pilot, “Wild” Bill Michel, 61, a longtime friend of Eshleman’s, and Paul Quartly, 66.

Eshleman earned a reputation as a stand-up businessman as owner of Steppers Construction Co. and an avid aviator and pilot, said friend Mark Barker, a pilot and member of the Alaska Fire Chiefs Association. What many outside those fields didn’t know was Eshleman’s commitment to honoring those who lost their lives through service to their communities.

When the Alaska State Firefighter’s Association decided to move the Alaska Firefighters Memorial in Anchorage from Station 3 to Station 1, a more visible and permanent location, Eshleman, 52, took on the project, Barker said.

“When I was working on the firefighter memorial, I was having trouble getting people to help out,” he said. “One day I was at lunch with John and I wasn’t at all asking him to help, but he said, ‘I’ll do it.’ I said, ‘No, I’m not asking you to do it.’ And he said, ‘No, I want to build that memorial.’”

It’s a $100,000 project, but Eshleman refused “to take a dime,” Barker said. Work on the memorial continues with plans for it to be dedicated Sept. 11. Eshleman’s commitment to the memorial was evident on Monday, the day after the fatal crash, when a full crew from Steppers Construction showed up to continue its work.

“He was just one of these great, decent guys,” Barker said. “He liked to help people out and nobody even knew. It’s just amazing. His goal was to donate all the labor, manpower and equipment and get it done.”

That generosity is something John Glass learned about 1998 when Eshleman volunteered to build a memorial for Alaska State Trooper Bruce Heck. Heck was killed in 1997 in a fight with a man on the Glenn Highway near Glennallen. Glass is a former deputy commissioner of public safety for the state and had known Eshleman for some time as a Wolf Lake resident.

“John had a heart of gold that was as big as all outdoors,” Glass said. “I went and talked to him (about the Heck memorial). John met us over at one of his rock quarries and said, ‘Pick out a rock.’ He had that rock along with some gravel trucked up to about Mile 138, 139.”

The men then together drilled out the rock and attached the memorial plaque to it, Glass said.

“John never charged a dime,” he said. “He did it out of the good nature of his heart, and that was just John.”

Those who have fallen in the line of duty lost a friend Aug. 1, Glass said, as did all those who live in the Wolf Lake community.

“John Eshleman was the glue that holds that Wolf Lake Airport together,” he said. “My loss is a personal loss, because my wife thinks of him as her brother.”

When a part to Glass’ water well broke last winter and there was no water in the house, Eshleman brought a crew out in the freezing temperatures to fix it. “Those are just the kinds of things John just did.”

Another memorial

The man who stepped up to create memorials for Heck and fallen firefighters will inspire another, said Eshleman’s wife and longtime Valley physician Dr. Barbara Doty. An effort is under way to create an Aviators Memorial in Eshleman’s honor at the Wolf Creek Airport.

There are other memorials out there with Eshleman’s work behind them, Doty said.

“He’s actually done several. It’s just something he did. Usually he just donates them for the community,” she said. “It’s the kind of person he was.”

Doty is taking some time off from her medical practice to keep Steppers Construction running. It’s a commitment she is helping with until her husband’s son Casey Eshleman, 32, takes the reins.

“He was a stickler for ethics and integrity,” she said of his business practice. “It was really important to him. His dad and mom were both lifelong military.”

When the couple first moved to Wolf Lake 19 years ago, “There was very little here, probably 30 houses,” she said. “Now it’s a thriving air park.”

Doty admits still being in shock after learning of her husband’s death, but knew something was wrong after takeoff on Sunday. The men were on board the cargo plane, nicknamed “Large Marge.” It was Wild Bill’s plane and was used in the filming of the motion picture “Con Air.”

“He loved to fly and he loved trying new kinds of flying,” Doty said. “We are both helicopter pilots. It isn’t just a loss (for the construction industry), but for the community of flying.”

The news hit Eshleman’s friend Barker “like a ton of bricks.”

“Him and I had talked Friday night,” he said. “John was one of these happy, bubbly guys who liked to do these fun things. He said, ‘Man, I think I’m flying with Wild Bill this weekend.’ Both of us are kind of aviation bums, so we talked about that.”

Barker spent the weekend flying and hadn’t heard about the crash until he returned home and watched the television news.

“I hear the news report that a large cargo plane painted green had gone down in Denali,” Barker said. “I just hoped and prayed what I thought was not the truth. You know, but you don’t want to know.”

That Eshleman’s legacy will live on through the memorials he’s built and the planned Aviators Memorial is comforting to Barker on one level.

“Irrespective of the memorial, your best friend is gone,” he said. “He’s one of those guys that comes around once in a lifetime.”

Even for his wife of 25 years, there was still more to learn about Eshleman. “It took me 21 years to sort-of figure him out, and I never really did quite succeed.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.