In memoriam: James ‘David’ Hyde

David Hyde

James “David” was born in the Hyde family home in Hamilton County, Tennessee in the spring of 1941 and passed away in Edmonds, Washington on October 23, 2015. His mother Ruby Lee Mavity and father Carl Marion Hyde both grew up in Eastern Tennessee. David had two older brothers, Carl and Darrell. David’s early childhood was spent in the house where he was born on Missionary Ridge, a famous battlefield of the American Civil War. As a child David kept busy finding civil war relics in the properties surrounding the family home, and dreaming about flying an airplane some day. 

 After moving to the Lindbergh/Morosgo area of Atlanta in the 1950’s, David landed his first job at age eleven driving a jeep and picking up trash at Mooney’s Lake amusement park. As a kid one of David’s mentors was his older brother Darrell. A lover of music, Darrell started the rock-n-roll band “The Rackette Squad” and invited his younger brother David to join the band. The band went on to play shows at the local high schools and a television studio appearance in the 1960’s. David and Darrell left behind audio recordings and photos of the Rackette Squad.

On another occasion David’s brother Darrell was perusing a Reader’s Digest when a paper insert fell out that read “learn to fly for $5”. Darrell turned to his brother David and said “we are going to be pilots”. David received his pilot’s license at age eighteen. David later worked at Fulton County airport as a “line boy” pumping gas and washing small airplanes. David never forgot the kindness and generosity of the Fulton County fixed based operator “Cecil” who helped him gain the flying experience to ultimately land a corporate flying job with E.T. Barwick industries, a carpet manufacturer. That opportunity allowed David to gain the additional experience needed to be hired in 1967 by Frontier Airlines based in Denver, CO.

David met Sally Ann Marshall, a stewardess for Frontier Airlines in 1968. Sally and David were married in Salt Lake City in March of 1969. Their son Stephen James Hyde was born in Utah in 1971. The family moved to Denver in 1973. Soon thereafter David was promoted to Captain for Frontier Airlines and Sally attended the University of Colorado while Stephen attended Denver Public Schools. David became part of the Pilot Training Department at Frontier Airlines and continued to fly Boeing 737’s throughout the American West. One of his favorite places to fly was Jackson, Wyoming surrounded by the Teton Mountains. In 1988 David took a job in Flight Training at the Boeing Company in Seattle. Boeing sent David all over the world to train pilots and deliver aircraft in Asia, Africa, South America, Europe and the South Pacific. His job also included the production of training films, flight testing Boeing commercial aircraft, and the presentation of international aviation safety seminars. David retired from the Boeing Company in 2003.

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