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Springfield doctor killed in plane crash

Cardiologist, a licensed pilot for more than 15 years, was flying home alone from Canada.

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By Bridgette Outten, Staff Writer Updated 10:50 PM Sunday, November 8, 2009

SPRINGFIELD — Witnesses at the scene of an airplane crash that killed a local cardiologist Saturday, Nov. 7, want Wilhelm Kalweit’s family to know that he wasn’t alone.

The crash occurred in a field southeast of the village of Mt. Victory in Hardin County, directly across from Jessica Lea Parthemore’s parents home, Parthemore wrote in a e-mail to the News-Sun on Sunday.

“I would like to express our sympathies and let (Dr. Kalweit’s) widow know that he wasn’t left alone,” Parthemore wrote. “We all got there as soon as we could.”

Kalweit, 56, was dead when emergency officials arrived on the scene Saturday evening, according to a Hardin County Sheriff’s Office press release.

The crash remains under investigation.

Kalweit’s wife of nearly 30 years, Suzanne, said the cardiologist had been on his way home from Canada. He was flying the plane alone after getting some work done on it, she said.

Suzanne Kalweit said her husband was a licensed pilot and had been flying more than 15 years.

“He loved planes, he loved flying,” she said. “He loved the outdoors.”

Kalweit was born in Germany, and his family moved to New York when he was 3 years old, his wife said.

A fellowship at Good Samaritan Hospital in Dayton brought the couple to the area more than 20 years ago, and Kalweit decided to open his own practice in Springfield, which is where he saw a need for his expertise.

“He believed in helping people,” Suzanne Kalweit said. “Like a lot of physicians, I think he got his reward from that.”

In addition to his wife, Wilhelm Kalweit is survived by the couple’s 12-year-old son and their extended family on the east coast.

“The one thing I can say is that he passed away doing something he loved,” Suzanne Kalweit said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0374 or boutten@coxohio.com.

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