WATSONVILLE — When Robert Shaffer was admitted to hospice care in January, social worker Karen McCabe asked him if there was anything he still wanted to accomplish in his life.
Shaffer immediately responded: He wanted to fly again.
A native of Watsonville, Shaffer served in the U.S. Navy after receiving his basic training at Camp Roberts in San Miguel. After his service, he spent years flying his own planes around California and the Pacific Northwest.
Shaffer says he was eventually grounded from piloting due to his declining health. But he never lost his passion for it.
“I just love the feeling of being up in the air,” he said, smiling. “Being in control, with the engine rumbling underneath.”
On Wednesday afternoon, Shaffer was taken up in a Cessna 172 SP Skyhawk from the Watsonville Municipal Airport to celebrate his 91st birthday. Hospice of Santa Cruz County workers, volunteers and other well-wishers gathered to see him off.
The plane’s pilot, who goes by the name Gryphon, is part of the Santa Cruz Flying Club. The organization has been working with Hospice of Santa Cruz County for the past month to organize the flight.
“This has really been a labor of love to make happen,” McCabe said. “We couldn’t be happier for Bob.”
Before the flight Shaffer regaled the small crowd with stories of his flights throughout the West. According to McCabe, it’s something he often does at his current home at Montecito Manor in Watsonville.
“He’s always entertaining us with these exciting tales,” she smiled. “It never gets old.”
Shaffer spoke about his wife and her love of flying with him — often being the navigator on their trips. He told a story of narrowly missing a crop duster when engulfed in the smoke of a forest fire, and the time he pulled up just in time over a cloud-obscured Mount Shasta.
When asked how he was feeling before Wednesday’s flight, Shaffer took a deep breath.
“Well, I am excited, but I’m very nervous, too,” he said.
“It is a bit windy up there today,” noted Cathy Conway, Hospice of Santa Cruz County’s Chief Communications Officer.
Shaffer shook his head.
“Oh that’s fine,” he said, and then, with a twinkle in his eye: “But you know, we have to keep a look out for those enemy planes.”
According to Conway, one of Shaffer’s daughters, Donna Woods, has been in contact from her town in Texas. She helped with organizing the flight.
“Donna told me, if there’s anyone who deserves this, it’s her dad,” Conway said. “She’s thrilled for him.”
