Harold “Hal” Harvey Chouinard

<p>Services will be Dec. 17 for Harold “Hal” Harvey Chouinard, a Cotati software company executive who died Nov. 28 during a collision between his glider and a tow plane in Lake County.</p><p>He was 63 and had lived in Cotati for more than three decades.</p><p>He owned Chouinard & Myhre, a Cotati firm that designs and supports computer software systems. He was a strong supporter of Cardinal Newman High School and a member of the school’s board.</p><p>Chouinard was born in San Mateo and grew up in Los Altos. He earned a bachelors degree in accounting from San Jose State University and served in the U.S. Air Force from 1969 to 1971. </p><p>In 1977, he and his partner, Phil Myhre, founded their company, which now employs 29 people. </p><p>He was an avid athlete who enjoyed boating, water skiing, wind surfing, wake boarding, hiking, snow skiing and boarding, tennis and golf.</p><p>He took up gliding in 2000 and piloted one of his two gliders on hundreds of pleasure and competitive flights. It was during one of those flights that his glider collided with a tow plane piloted by Robert “Sean” Boylan, 44, of Hidden Valley Lake, who also died in the accident at a Middletown airfield.</p><p>Chouinard is survived by his wife, Rae Chouinard of Cotati; daughters, Nicole Chouinard of San Francisco and Mary Chouinard of Santa Rosa; son, Thomas Chouinard of Santa Clara; mother, Mary Chouinard of El Dorado Hills; and sisters, Marlene Newton of El Dorado Hills and Cheryl Isbell of Elk Grove.</p><p>A memorial service will be conducted at 10 a.m. Dec. 17 at St. Joseph Catholic Church in Cotati with a reception afterwards at the parish hall.</p><p>The family requests no flowers and suggests contributions to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation through donations to the Hal Chouinard Memorial Fund at Exchange Bank, 8220 Old Redwood Highway South, Cotati, 94931.</p><p>— Bleys W. Rose</p>