CLARINDA, Iowa — A day after the death of a prominent local businessman and civic leader, Clarinda residents were trying to come to terms with the loss.
Jac Crain, 53, of Clarinda died shortly after 1:30 p.m. Sunday when the small plane he was piloting crashed in a field south of Clarinda.
"It was just a complete shock," Steve Mowery, a fellow Clarinda pilot, said Monday. "He's been a good friend of mine for most of my life and a good pilot friend. I feel so sorry for the family."
Mowery said Crain had been a pilot since the mid-1980s. He described Crain as a safe and conscientious pilot who was well-respected by the tight-knit Clarinda flight community for his attention to detail and procedure.
"I went down to the airport last evening, and there were a bunch of pilots down at the hangars. All of us were in a state of shock. Jac was one of our own, and he was so diligent in everything he did," Mowery said. "We're all hurting."
Like any pilot, Mowery said Crain understood the risks. However, Mowery said, pilots are trained to deal with emergencies such as the one Crain faced Sunday.
"Everything we do in life has risk to it, but as pilots we do everything we can to minimize those risks every time we fly," Mowery said.
However, the feeling of loss following Crain's death extended well beyond the pilots who shared the skies with him.
"My first thought was that I lost a good friend," Clarinda City Manager Gary McClarnon said. "He was a great person, a great friend and a wonderful father and husband. He will definitely be missed."
An engineer by trade, Crain owned Crain Construction. The company was founded by his father, Jim, and passed on to him.
McClarnon said the construction company did a lot of work for the city and, as a result, Crain was very knowledgeable about the town and its infrastructure.
"He had a great business mind," McClarnon said. "He was a great guy, and I really enjoyed working with him."
"Jac was a tremendous Clarinda businessman and will be greatly missed," said Elaine Farwell, executive director of the Clarinda Chamber of Commerce.
Crain also served for several years on the Clarinda Association of Business and Industry board of directors and was a Clarinda Economic Development Corp. board member.
"Jac was very interested in trying to promote economic development in Clarinda," said John Greenwood, executive director of the development agency. "He brought some new ideas to the board."
Greenwood said two projects that Crain had taken a special interest in were downtown revitalization.
"I don't know if many people knew this, but he was part of the committee looking to get a movie theater here, and he was very passionate about that," McClarnon said.
Greenwood and Mowery agreed that Crain's death would be felt by all of Clarinda for quite some time.
"It is definitely a loss for the community and our group. Jac had really started to get involved in community development and doing what he could to improve our local economy," Greenwood said. "It is sad to realize that a fairly young man, who had really started to help us try to improve our community, is gone."
Funeral services for Crain are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. Thursday at Hillside Missionary Church in Clarinda.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife, Marcy, and son, Blake, along with their entire family," Farwell said.
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