I am setting up this GoFund me to assist the family in taking care of post life related expenses such as legal expenses, Cremation and a funeral service to celebrate the adventurous life of Ralph Polnicky who passed away alone on March 2nd with no notice to family or friends. Ralph is survived by his wife Zenaida, Brothers Dennis, Larry and Don, and his best friends Katrina Hodges and John Chandler.
Ralph was a long time friend of mine and we shared many many adventures together. In his early life he served our country and was also a ship Captain. I did not have the pleasure of knowing him back in his sea faring days but made up for that in the short period of time I got to know him. Ralph became a grandfather figure to me from 2016 onward.
We met while i was working at the RadioShack in Shawnee Oklahoma. He needed help picking out a security camera system and when I asked what he was needing to get coverage on he said he had an airplane hangar and wanted to keep it secured from hooligans. I immediately perked up as I cant shut up about my love for aviation. He soon invited me to help him on some of his projects and that is how an everlasting friendship began.
From then on, we did so many things together. I spent about a year restoring a 1936 J3 Cub, an airplane I once thought mundane but soon fell in love with. We completed the Cub and went on a pretty exciting test flight………. Note to self, make sure there are no blockages in your pitot line…… 😉 We enjoyed many flights in the Cub which was eventually sold and we then moved onto other projects. We worked on Pietenpols, (Did you know you can fit two Pietenpol wings in the back of a pickup? I didnt…..), ultra lights and all kinds of fun little machines..
Of the many trips we took, one of my favorites was when we went to Salina Kansas to volunteer with my friend Jaime at the Collings Foundation. Jaime being the absolute sweetheart she was, got both me and Ralph a flight in a B-25. That was so special to me and I know it was a blast for Ralph to get to fly in a warbird again.
Among those amazing trips, we went to Disney World and I drug poor Ralph on every ride I could get him on, we ate some amazing food in St. Augustine, we drove along the beach and got the truck stuck haha, we got to see manatees, we flew RC Airplanes and I didnt crash any of them. Even delivered a BD 5 MicroJet down in Texas. We went everywhere and he always had his pup Missy with him wherever he went.
Ralph was an amazing and supportive man with a bit of a stubborn personality, but I cant blame him, in his later years he had suffered some medical complications that really limited his ability to do the things he wanted and I believe this really impacted him. He always supported me, he would try to help me financially with my flying but I always refused, I wanted him to take care of himself more than anything and I regret not being there as much as I could have but due to so complex circumstances we will be having to navigate with his passing, I wasn’t able to be present in his last year of life on this earth. I can only hope to make it right for him by helping his family and those who love him recover his ashes and have a service to honor his life.
Any assistance will go toward legal expenses and after life expenses. The family has a long road ahead of them due to some not so great people who made their way into Ralphs life and any support we can get will help ease as much of the oncoming burden as possible.
I think you so much for your support and want to ensure Ralph is forever remembered as the adventurer he once was and I can only hope he is sailing the high seas once more like he always dreamed.
Organized by Katrina Hodges
Iron Mountain, MI