Vance Schellenberg was a budding 29-year-old helicopter mechanical engineer when his life was suddenly cut short.
The son of long-time Penticton residents Donna and Harold Schellenberg was among six people killed when a helicopter crashed into a mountainside while flying in winter whiteout conditions above the Stikine River in 1990.
Now Donna and Harold are honouring Vance through a $30,000 donation to the South Okanagan Similkameen Medical Foundation’s campaign to provide the medical equipment for the Penticton Regional Hospital expansion.
The Schellenbergs moved to Penticton from Burnaby in the late 1950s with the first two of what would be four boys in their family.
Vance was born at Penticton Regional Hospital on July 11, 1960. He graduated from Pen-High in 1978 and eventually gained his helicopter mechanical training in Vancouver. His first employer was Okanagan Helicopters. Vance later moved to Fort St. John to work with another helicopter firm.
He was accompanying a flight out of Wrangell, Alaska carrying workers to a remote mining camp in B.C., when the Bell Jet Ranger helicopter went down on the afternoon of Feb. 7, 1990. Only the pilot and one passenger survived. The shock and heartbreak for the Schellenbergs was immeasurable.
“It was a terrible crash — and he had so much promise too,” Donna said. “He had job offers from all over, even the Middle East. It was a tragic loss.”
The entire Schellenberg family, including Vance’s brothers Dean, Gordon and Glen, are in favour of making the donation in his memory.
“We’re trying to honour him for the son that he was,” Harold said.
Harold and Donna said helping fund the foundation’s campaign for the new Patient Care Tower at PRH seems like a natural thing to do.
“We know how badly it’s needed,” Donna said. “We’ve both made a lot of trips to that hospital. It has a fabulous staff.”
She recalled how the Penticton hospital didn’t even have air conditioning in 1960 when Vance was born in the heat of an Okanagan summer. Fortunately, the husband of one of the other women in her room brought in a water-filled “swamp cooler” air conditioner.
The relief was immediate — even the nurses would stop by to cool off.
“All the nurses would come in and go: ‘Ahhh!’ It was the most popular room on the floor,” she said with a laugh.
The Schellenbergs were able to move to Penticton in December 1958 when Harold’s job as a travelling salesman for a Quebec footwear company allowed him to be based in the Okanagan. He later changed careers in 1969 so he could spend more time with his family, joining Pemberton Securities (now RBC Dominion Securities). He remained a stockbroker until retiring 27 years ago.
Donna taught school for a year before opting to be a stay-at-home mom with their growing family. They both have been active in the community.
Harold sat on the former Penticton Hospital board in the 1980s and was involved in Kiwanis, minor hockey, Scouts, curling and golf.
Donna is a member of the Penticton Tuneagers and an active supporter of the proposed South Okanagan Performing Arts Centre, having served as a director on the SOPAC board for five years. She was also recently elected to the board of the Shatford Centre (Okanagan School of the Arts).
Construction of the new patient care tower at PRH will start this spring.