Let Him Rest In our Souls Forever

Love u always and forever

JOrdan,Megan,kathryn,Aunt Rhonda, Uncle Steve(maggie)
Also had Three other daughters Elaine,Elizabeth and Erin

Uncle Steve and Aunt Rhonda (Wedding)

Cessna employee was devoted family man, loved flying

BY MOLLY MCMILLIN

The Wichita Eagle

Cessna Aircraft employee Steve O'Neill was a well-liked, devoted family man and an experienced, cautious pilot with a passion for flying, his friends and family said Thursday.

Mr. O'Neill, 45, was killed Tuesday night when the Cessna-owned Caravan he was in crashed in rough terrain in a remote, mountainous area of southern California.

He was Caravan's regional sales manager for the western U.S. and Canada.

Also killed in the accident was Rick Voorhis, president of Pacific Aircraft Sales.

"He was like Superman," said Mr. O'Neill's sister, Sharon O'Neill McKeighan. "There wasn't anything he couldn't do, any problem he couldn't solve."

He was a devoted husband and son who delighted in his children. He was "warm and witty and wise and wonderful," she said.

Ken Stultz, president of Air Capital Jet Sales, remembers Mr. O'Neill as "extremely intelligent, a good aviator."

"He was making a very positive mark in the world of aviation," he said. "It's an unfortunate tragedy."

Mr. O'Neill and Voorhis were on a sales trip to market the Caravan. They had taken off from Palm Springs, Calif., en route to Ontario, Calif., International Airport. The plane left Wichita, where the aircraft was based, earlier this week. It crashed near Yucaipa, Calif.

Cessna flew the family to California to await news of the search to find the downed plane.

"We were hoping with all the thoughts and prayers we possibly could" for a good outcome, said Mr. O'Neill's brother, Kevin. The family was "hoping they'd maybe put in a soft landing somewhere and were waiting to be rescued."

The crash investigation continues, National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Paul Schlamm said Thursday. The NTSB was planning to lift the plane's wreckage off the crash site by helicopter, he said.

The Federal Aviation Administration, Cessna and engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney are assisting in the investigation.

Mr. O'Neill graduated from the University of Kansas in 1983 with a degree in petroleum engineering and worked in the oil business.

In August 2000 he joined Cessna as single-engine division sales manager for the eastern United States. In 2003, he was promoted to his current position.

Mr. O'Neill is survived by his wife, Rhonda; four daughters, Erin, Elizabeth, Elaine and Maggie; three stepchildren, Megan, Jordan and Kathryn Reichenberger; his parents, John and Dorothy; and two sisters and six brothers.