North Coast family killed in plane crash

Four members of a North Coast family were killed when their small plane crashed while preparing to land at a rural airstrip in Shasta County for the holiday weekend.

Pilot Keith Paulson, 61, his wife, Jaynie Paulson, 58, their son’s longtime girlfriend, Jennifer Drake, 36, all of Albion, and their son-in-law, Vince Whiteley, 32, of Windsor died in Friday’s crash about 70 miles east of Redding, according to the Shasta County Coroner’s Office.

“It’s just horrible,” said Amy Whiteley, the Paulsons’ daughter and Vince Whiteley’s wife.

The four were arriving for a golf tournament in the small community of Fall River Mills when the single-engine Bonanza went down, she said.

Witnesses, including some pilots, reported the plane made a final turn to line up up with the runway at the county-run airport about 10:30 a.m., said Sheriff’s Sgt. Marc St. Clair.

But the plane abruptly dove toward the ground, striking several trees as it crashed and caught on fire in a wooded area about a half mile from the airport, he said.

The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating, St. Clair said.

Keith and Jaynie Paulson owned a vacation home on the golf course in Fall River Mills and participated in the tournament there every year, Whiteley said.

The Paulsons had lived on the Mendocino Coast since 1976 and owned Paulson Excavating, which contracted for large-scale construction projects.

Keith Paulson also was a golf coach at Mendocino High School and a former Albion-Little River volunteer firefighter.

Jaynie Paulson was a former member of the Mendocino Unified School District board.

“They gave a lot to their community,” said Susan McKinney, a friend of the couple and owner of the Little River Inn. “Everyone is reeling.”

She described the couple as “upstanding, honest, reasonable and moderate.”

Vince Whiteley, an Oregon native, was a graphic designer with a Santa Rosa marketing firm, Amy Whiteley said.

The couple met while attending Pacific University, a small, private college near Portland. They also lived in Georgia while Vince earned a master’s degree in illustration from Savannah College of Art and Design.

They had been married 11 years and have three children - Jackson, 7, Anna, 5, and Lincoln, 11 months.

Drake was born and raised in Sacramento. She met the Paulsons’ son, Bryan, while they both attended college in San Diego, Amy Whiteley said.

Drake and Paulson lived in Albion, where he worked in the family business.

Drake was an avid gardener, cook and athlete. She hiked, skied, mountain-biked and golfed regularly with a group of friends.

Drake and Vince Whiteley frequently went on golfing trips with Keith and Jaynie Paulson.

“They loved Jennifer and Vince like they were their own children,” Amy Whiteley said.

Amy Whiteley does not golf, so she opted to not to make the weekend trip to Shasta County. Bryan Paulson is a golfer, but he had to work Friday so he had planned to drive to Fall River Mills to join the family later, she said.

Keith Paulson’s friends and family said Monday that he had 25 years of experience flying and was a conservative pilot.

Amy Whiteley said her father never took risks while flying and had just taken the plane in for an annual safety inspection in April.

“We can’t put any reason to it,” she said. “This was a man who would not take any chances.”

A service for the family will be held at the Little River Inn, 7901 Highway 1, at 5 p.m. Sunday.

An additional service for Vince Whiteley will be held for at 3 p.m. Thursday at Fritz Winery, 24691 Dutcher Creek Road, in Cloverdale, where mint juleps will be served in honor of the time he spent in Georgia.

“He loved the south,” Amy Whiteley said.