Pilot, Aircraft Technician & Inspector,
Family Man, Leader and Friend
Published in Midwest Flyer Magazine June/July 2024 Digital Issue
Mike Pfizer Photo
EAA Chapter 431 charter member and first president, Richard (Dick) Marvin Weeden, passed away May 7, 2024, at the age of 91. A celebration of life took place at the Kelch Aviation Museum at the Brodhead, Wisconsin airport (C37), where Weeden worked as an aircraft technician and inspector for most of his adult life.
Weeden was born July 1, 1932, in Beloit, Wis. to Marvin and Bessie (Opsahl) Weeden, the oldest of five kids. Always fascinated with aviation, he joined the U.S. Air Force in 1952 during the Korean Conflict. He served as an aircraft instrument mechanic at Pinecastle Air Force Base in Orlando, Florida, working on B-47s, F-86s, and other top line aircraft of the time. He enjoyed this period of his life immensely and traveled the world on several tours of duty.
At age 16, Weeden took his first flying lessons at the South Beloit, Wisconsin airport in a brand-new Piper Cub. He eventually obtained his Private Pilot Certificate in 1976, and attended Blackhawk Technical Institute in Janesville, where he received his Airframe & Powerplant Certificate with Inspection Authorization, something that he used daily for the rest of his life. According to his instructor, Archie Henkelmann, Dick Weeden was by far his best student in the more than 33 years Henkelmann taught. “Every day was a pleasant experience having Dick in my class,” said Henkelmann.
Dick Weeden met his future wife, Pauline “Polly” Beischel, in 1954 at the North Central Airlines ticket counter at Midway Airport in Chicago. Polly worked there as a ticket agent, and Dick was trying to hitchhike home on a flight to Beloit. A ticket cost $9.55. and Dick had exactly $10 in his pocket. After a long-distance courtship through letters and visits, through moves and deployments, Dick proposed and they were married on August 11, 1956, in Beloit.
In 1957, the Weedens had their first child, Thomas, followed by Michael, Mary, James, William, and Patrick. They moved to Brodhead in 1969, and that’s when Weeden began to play a huge part in putting Brodhead on the map in the worldwide aviation community.
Weeden worked as a tool and die maker for Warner Electric Brake & Clutch Company in Beloit for 26 years, and for Knight Manufacturing (now Kuhn North America) as a model maker for another 19 years. In 1996, he retired to start his own machine shop in his hangar at the Brodhead Airport, where he continued to make custom parts for customers around the country. He was a master craftsman and aircraft restorer.
Weeden was one of the founders of the current Brodhead Airport by organizing a now-legendary meeting in his living room in 1972 to arrange for the purchase of the airport and its conversion into a shareholder-owned, public-access facility. He was a charter member and served as the first president of Chapter 431 of the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA), and instrumental in organizing the annual fly-ins that take place at the airport to this day.
Dick Weeden and his family built one of the first modern hangars at the airport in 1974, when he started Weeden Aviation, an aircraft and engine maintenance shop. Though he worked on all kinds of aircraft, his specialty was vintage aircraft. He built and restored numerous aircraft and was especially proud of his scratch-built Pietenpol Air Camper, and his 1935 Rearwin Sportster 7000, which he rebuilt from almost nothing to an award-winning showplane. Weeden gave hundreds of airplane rides over his lifetime, and influenced pilots, mechanics, and restorers from all over the world through both example and encouragement. Old cars and trucks were a later love, and his restored 1949 Chevy Carryall – “just like the one I drove in the Air Force” – was a regular at area car shows.
In retirement, Dick Weeden continued to enjoy aviation and the airport. Highlights included a trip to Australia in 1996 to visit friends from the international aerobatics team, an Honor Flight to Washington, DC for veterans, annual trips to EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and always the fly-ins at Brodhead Airport.
Dick Weeden is survived by his wife of 67 years, Polly, and children Thomas (Lesa) of Dodgeville, Wis.; Michael (Joanne) of Abilene, Texas; Mary of Verona, Wis.; James (Lisa Braley) of Blanchardville, Wis.; William (Jeni Shogren) of Albany, Wis.; and Patrick (Tracey Nelson) of Oregon, Wis., plus a large number of grandchildren, great grandchildren, and a wide community of extended family and aviation friends. He was preceded in death by his parents, brothers Don (Patricia) and David, and sisters Jeannine (Dan) Johnson and Carol (Paul) Brom, all of Beloit.
A private funeral was held, with a public celebration of life on May 17, 2024, at the Kelch Aviation Museum at the Brodhead Airport. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations for a future memorial at the airport. For additional information, email Pat Weeden at pweeden@kelchmuseum.org