What happened to all of Lew Woolard's stuff?

[Doug Burright]

When Lew Woolard passed away in March of 2018, he left a workshop filled with multitudes of Fox engines, many parts for them: as he was known as The Silver Foxx. Lew had many airplanes-built, and some others which were not finished. Lots of machinery and tools for Lew to work on engines also filled his shop. We were shocked by The Silver Foxx's sudden passing-but what happened before his wife, Julia passed away in July, is truly astonishing!
Members of the airplane club, which Lew was a leader member, were trying to make arrangements with Julia to collect the engines which belonged to club members, that Lew had not completed, and offer her fair payment for some keepsakes of Lew's, to remember him by. Before we could get together with her, she came to a club meeting, and said, "It's all gone." Julia passed away in July. We miss her, too.
When I would visit Lew at his shop, he would tell me, "You have to fly that plane", pointing to a hanging airplane. I'm certain that occurred with others who visited. None of Lew's friends in town were able to acquire a personal rememberance from Lew's vast inventory of his many decades in the hobby. It all disappeared, leaving friends and club members without some opportunity to cherish a physical part of Lew's model airplane legacy. Could it be recovered, and preserved by other modeler friends of Lew?

[De Hill]

Unfortunately it is a common tale when a Modeler passes.

[Brett Buck]

Unfortunately it is a common tale when a Modeler passes.

   It's common when *anyone* passes, and it is unfortunate. All of a sudden, the heirs/relatives have all this stuff, they frequently don't know what it is and/or what to do with it, and it can't just sit there indefinitely. I had to go through this when my dad died, there is all this stuff, it's 2000 miles away, what the heck can I do with it? This on top of a traumatic event, and I my case, where I could barely function at all.

    It's a terrible thing when a person's life's work suddenly becomes someone else's meaningless junk or liability, its part of the horror. But it's hard to fault anyone for getting rid of it, this is the worst thing that can happen to someone.

     Brett

   

[Gary Dowler]

   It's common when *anyone* passes, and it is unfortunate. All of a sudden, the heirs/relatives have all this stuff, they frequently don't know what it is and/or what to do with it, and it can't just sit there indefinitely. I had to go through this when my dad died, there is all this stuff, it's 2000 miles away, what the heck can I do with it? This on top of a traumatic event, and I my case, where I could barely function at all.

    It's a terrible thing when a person's life's work suddenly becomes someone else's meaningless junk or liability, its part of the horror. But it's hard to fault anyone for getting rid of it, this is the worst thing that can happen to someone.

     Brett

 

Having been through the same thing with my own dads passing in 2005, I can fully understand what you are describing. My only consolation was that my dad lived locally, reducing the logistical hurdles a bit.

Gary

[Ken Culbertson]

Unfortunately it is a common tale when a Modeler passes.

Perhaps this is a lesson for those of us long in the tooth.  Put some kind of provision in your will.  I am guilty of this and will correct it soon.  To an outsider it all looks like useless junk.  I plan to offer mine first to my grandchildren and then to our club.

Ken

[Phil Spillman]

My wife and daughter have told me that if I don't "do something with all that junk in your cluttered room ...it's all going into the big blue box at the curb"! I've told them that they are nuts and that they would be in fact throwing away a fortune! Their response has been we don't have the time to go through all that stuff! So I have been selling as much as I can by all means to reduce their stress of LAYTER! Well I've recently made some new friends and if I  get around to making a codicil to my will all that stuff will find a most welcome home come what may! Once we're gone we really shouldn't care who gets what as long as it's not ...THE BIG BLUE BOX AT THECURB!


Phil Spillman
 

[Fred Cronenwett]

When I lived in Wichita I was approached by a family friend, their father had passed away and he had large collection model airplanes (all RC but still the same story). they told me they did not know what to do with the stuff, what is was worth and how to get rid of it. I basically organized the engines, kits and airplanes and helped them take it to a local Auction. 1/3 of it was trash and was pitched, the other 2/3 had value. In the end all of the items were sold and none of the immediate family wanted any of it.

All of us should have something in our Will that clearly says who should be contacted when we pass so that the model airplane stuff can be handled by the local club or some special person. You might even want a specific model to be donated to a certain person.


Before Gary Frost passed away he invited us over to his house and he gave the Lafayette Esquadrille all of his Trophies, some of which go back a long ways with the St Louis CL Clubs (hotheads for example). I am hanging on to it for the Lafayette Esquadrille, some of his better trophies have been cleaned to the top award for CL stunt at the Broken Arrow contest. He had two AMA Nats National Champion awards that I want to donte to the AMA because they so special. They should not be sold or hide in my storage area. If the AMA wants to display them they should have them.


Just my ideas...

Fred

[JoeJust]

Setting things up in a will is a great idea that Ginny and I have done for ALL our stuff. With that said, I ran into a buzz-saw when the widow of a good friend told me that her husband wanted me to get rid of all his modeling items.  She forgot to tell me that her husband had told her the going prices for his equipment.  Well, nearly all of the items he left were either sadly outdated or completely unusable. Most of the junk went into a dumpster. The engines and assorted items were out of date, and I found it nearly impossible to give them away. For the first time in 8 years I offered items on Ebay and got zero sales offers.
When I finally got somebody to buy most of what was left, and I bought several items myself, I gave her the check. Basically I was told by her that I was a crook and had stolen the rest of the money!
Before I gave up in trying to sell stuff I went to a local R/C field and offered everything flor any offered price. There were 25-30 guys flying that day. One guy was flying with a nitro engine, but didn't build anything. The rest was all electric and ARF's. The hobby has changed radically in the past ten years and those that build are vanishing. Same for glow plug users.

Joe Just
PS anyone want a nearly new heat gun and mono iron?  It's yours for the cost of shipping in the U.S.

[Crist Rigotti]

<snip
>snip
Joe Just
PS anyone want a nearly new heat gun and mono iron?  It's yours for the cost of shipping in the U.S.
[/quote]

Joe, please check your PM.

[john e. holliday]

When Mr Meriwether passed away I asked Wayne what was he going to do with all the stuff.  He answered the local dumpster was going to get filled.  I talked him out of all the control line stuff.  Planes with engines ready to fly,  boxes of engines, props and various items.  I told him to contact a local guy we used to fly with about the radio stuff.   There was tube radio equipment still flyable as well as some new stuff.  I cleaned up engines and posted on the bay.  The speed plane which was Junior D Speed Champion was sold as a complete item.  When I took almost a thousand dollars over to Wayne he couldn't believe it.  He stated I could keep what ever was left.   Most of the planes I sold at various contests for $5.00 each except for the Nobler I sold for $25.00.  Of course I found out later that the nose fell off on the fourth flight.  My son knows I use the bay and I hope he will post the engines for a low bid start with a big enough shipping charge so he doesn't lose money.   But then again e may start sing the stuff to start flying again.  But once I'm in the incinerater I will not be worrying about it.

[Doug Burright]

Nearly 1000 views to this topic shows that many people are curious about what happened to Lew Woolard's stuff! It was uncerimoniously hauled away, by two people, in one day, with no regard to the people whose items were still in the shop, waiting for Lew's expert touch to enhance it's performance.

No phone calls, no texts, no semiphores or even smoke signals to inform ANY OTHER MODELER that an opportunity to collect their property, which had been handed or shipped to Lew, was arranged for a specific day and time. Julia might be a little at fault for the lack of communication, but she passed away shortly after the clean-out.
 
But there are two men, one of whom was not even aware that Lew was married, who know exactly where Lew's vast inventory, and hobby memorabilia, now resides. It was said that one of the men paid Mrs. Woolard $100, then he drove away from Lew's home with nearly 1/2 of Lew's modeling lifetime. Apparently the other guy was "more of a friend" of Lew's, and did not feel obligated enough to pay Mrs. Woolard for any of the great haul that he took away that day.

I was lucky enough to have my engine returned to me. When I discovered who hauled away Lew's stuff, I immediately phoned the guy, and demanded that he look through the stuff until he found the one that belongs to me. Arrangements were made, and the engine was returned to me at the Topeka contest. It is unfortunate that I can never fly the airplanes that Lew pointed to when I visited with him in his shop. Those are gone, also. I hope the machinery is being put to the uses which Lew intended. I was told that there were unopened packages filled with brand new stuffer backplates and fancy replacement, high performance cylinder heads for Fox engines, which were also part of the haul made that day. I know for certain that other people in this area have lost their engines to that action.

Very soon after Julia passed away, I was contacted by Lew's grandson who was concerned about the inventory of Lew's shop, and what the possible value of the stuff might be. All that I could do was tell him that it had been taken by two guys, without a significant payment to Julia, and to forward the phone number to him of the person I was able to recover my engine from.

Both of those guys are members of this site.

[Dwayne]

Nearly 1000 views to this topic shows that many people are curious about what happened to Lew Woolard's stuff! It was uncerimoniously hauled away, by two people, in one day, with no regard to the people whose items were still in the shop, waiting for Lew's expert touch to enhance it's performance.

No phone calls, no texts, no semiphores or even smoke signals to inform ANY OTHER MODELER that an opportunity to collect their property, which had been handed or shipped to Lew, was arranged for a specific day and time. Julia might be a little at fault for the lack of communication, but she passed away shortly after the clean-out.
 
But there are two men, one of whom was not even aware that Lew was married, who know exactly where Lew's vast inventory, and hobby memorabilia, now resides. It was said that one of the men paid Mrs. Woolard $100, then he drove away from Lew's home with nearly 1/2 of Lew's modeling lifetime. Apparently the other guy was "more of a friend" of Lew's, and did not feel obligated enough to pay Mrs. Woolard for any of the great haul that he took away that day.

I was lucky enough to have my engine returned to me. When I discovered who hauled away Lew's stuff, I immediately phoned the guy, and demanded that he look through the stuff until he found the one that belongs to me. Arrangements were made, and the engine was returned to me at the Topeka contest. It is unfortunate that I can never fly the airplanes that Lew pointed to when I visited with him in his shop. Those are gone, also. I hope the machinery is being put to the uses which Lew intended. I was told that there were unopened packages filled with brand new stuffer backplates and fancy replacement, high performance cylinder heads for Fox engines, which were also part of the haul made that day. I know for certain that other people in this area have lost their engines to that action.

Very soon after Julia passed away, I was contacted by Lew's grandson who was concerned about the inventory of Lew's shop, and what the possible value of the stuff might be. All that I could do was tell him that it had been taken by two guys, without a significant payment to Julia, and to forward the phone number to him of the person I was able to recover my engine from.

Wow. 

[James Holford]

Vultures... they are in every hobby.

Doug were you at the Tulsa contest this year?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G891A using Tapatalk

[Jim Mynes]

Nearly 1000 views to this topic shows that many people are curious about what happened to Lew Woolard's stuff! It was uncerimoniously hauled away, by two people, in one day, with no regard to the people whose items were still in the shop, waiting for Lew's expert touch to enhance it's performance.

No phone calls, no texts, no semiphores or even smoke signals to inform ANY OTHER MODELER that an opportunity to collect their property, which had been handed or shipped to Lew, was arranged for a specific day and time. Julia might be a little at fault for the lack of communication, but she passed away shortly after the clean-out.
 
But there are two men, one of whom was not even aware that Lew was married, who know exactly where Lew's vast inventory, and hobby memorabilia, now resides. It was said that one of the men paid Mrs. Woolard $100, then he drove away from Lew's home with nearly 1/2 of Lew's modeling lifetime. Apparently the other guy was "more of a friend" of Lew's, and did not feel obligated enough to pay Mrs. Woolard for any of the great haul that he took away that day.

I was lucky enough to have my engine returned to me. When I discovered who hauled away Lew's stuff, I immediately phoned the guy, and demanded that he look through the stuff until he found the one that belongs to me. Arrangements were made, and the engine was returned to me at the Topeka contest. It is unfortunate that I can never fly the airplanes that Lew pointed to when I visited with him in his shop. Those are gone, also. I hope the machinery is being put to the uses which Lew intended. I was told that there were unopened packages filled with brand new stuffer backplates and fancy replacement, high performance cylinder heads for Fox engines, which were also part of the haul made that day. I know for certain that other people in this area have lost their engines to that action.

Very soon after Julia passed away, I was contacted by Lew's grandson who was concerned about the inventory of Lew's shop, and what the possible value of the stuff might be. All that I could do was tell him that it had been taken by two guys, without a significant payment to Julia, and to forward the phone number to him of the person I was able to recover my engine from.

Both of those guys are members of this site.

I say, NAME NAMES! Hold them responsible to deliver others’ property to them without delay. If they don’t want to do the right thing, at least we will know who the pond scum is.

[Frank Imbriaco]

They'll more than likely show up with his stuff at a swap meet this year.  Quick call a family member to the scene and let them decide where or who to go to from there.

[Clint Ormosen]

Shortly after Lew's passing, someone called me about a Fox 45 that I had in for modification. I had written my name and phone number on the inside of the box and they were looking to return it to me. However, since it had been there for nearly three years and I had kind of forgotten about it anyway, I told the caller to donate to a worthy modeler. I didn't know I was donating it to a swap meet.
Don't remember who the caller was, but at the time I did recognize his name.

[mike londke]

Luckily, for me anyway, I have a son that is into CL models. I don't see Samuel quitting anytime soon, he has the bug pretty bad. I believe my stuff will be used long after I'm gone. Plus my wife (an accountant) has seen all the checks and credit card bills for engines/kits. She knows how much I spend on this hobby and that there is value in the items. She wouldn't be so quick to trash them or sell all of them to buddy for $100.