GREENWICH, Conn. -- Paul Albert Roitsch, 78, of Greenwich, CT, died on December 8, from corticobasal ganglionic degeneration (CBGD), a rare neurological disorder.
Born in Manhattan Beach, California, he became a U.S. Navy carrier pilot at the age of 17, and, thereafter, spent the rest of his life actively engaged in the aviation industry as a commercial pilot, test pilot, and aviation safety and security expert.
After graduating from the University of Southern California, where he played football on their nationally-ranked team, he joined Pan American World Airways in 1952 as a navigator. He was recalled into the Navy in 1953 as a training pilot. During 1954 and 1955, he served as a pilot in General Claire Chenault's Taiwan headquartered Civil Air Transport Co., Ltd. While based in Haiphong, North Vietnam, he flew many evacuation flights to the south. He rejoined Pan Am in 1955 as a co-pilot/navigator on DC7C's and Boeing 707's. Several years later he was sent to the Navy Test Pilot School at Patuxent River, Maryland. Upon graduation he became Pan Am's Assistant Chief Pilot-Technical. In 1969 he became Chief Pilot Technical and was sent to Seattle for the new Boeing 747 program.
He was the first airline pilot to test pilot both the 747 and the supersonic Concorde. At the time of his retirement in 1986, he had spent his entire 35 year career with Pan Am and finished as a captain flying 747's. Later as an aviation consultant, he became a key expert witness in the investigation of aviation accidents. Additionally, he served as the Air Line Pilots Association's Chief Safety Officer and Chairman of its New Aircraft Evaluation/Certification Committee and served on the Flight Deck Design and Aircraft Handling, Safety Standardization, and Flight Operations committees of the Society of Automotive Engineers.
Paul Roitsch was a major force in the creation and growth of the Pan Am Historical Foundation in the early 1990's and was Executive Vice-President when he retired from the Board in 2003, at which time he was honored with the Foundation's Outstanding Leadership Award. Paul's dream was to have a documentary film or video produced about the history of Pan Am and its significant contributions to commercial aviation.
Besides his love of aviation, he was an avid football and baseball fan. He was a man of interesting and admirable personal traits with a forthright sense of humor.
He is survived by his wife of 49 years, Phyllis McCoy Roitsch, and three children, Sharon Malloy of Greenwich; Alison Gerblick of Phoenix, Arizona; and Captain Eric Roitsch, U.S. Army, of Clarksville, Tennessee; and four grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held Saturday, December 18, at 11:00 a.m. at North Greenwich Congregational Church, 606 Riversville Road, Greenwich.
In lieu of flowers, memorial donations may be made to: the National Organization for Rare Disorders, http://www.rarediseases.org; the Pan Am Historical Foundation, http://www.panam.org; or the North Greenwich Congregational Church (606 Riversville Road, Greenwich, CT 06831).
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