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Hugh Chance found a life in the skies

By Bill Gallo, Special to the Rocky

Published November 20, 2007 at 12:05 a.m.

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Hugh M. Chance had a 36-year career as a pilot for United Airlines.

Hugh M. Chance had a 36-year career as a pilot for United Airlines.

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Hugh M. Chance was a veteran airline pilot who could fly anything with wings, a former Colorado state senator and a late- blooming preacher who dedicated himself to his faith.

He died Nov. 13 at Sunrise Assisted Living in Westminister, after a 10-year battle with Alz heimer's disease. He was 88.

Born June 10, 1919, in Atwood, Kan., Mr. Chance grew up in nearby McDonald and, defying his parents' wishes, dropped out of Fort Hays State College, where he had learned to fly, to spend two years as a civilian flight instructor for the Army Air Corps.

In May 1943, Mr. Chance started a 36-year career with United Airlines, during which he piloted everything from the venerable twin-engine DC-3 to the first jet-powered airliners to Boeing 747 jumbo jets.

How many flying hours did he log? "He didn't know," his son Hugh Jr. said. "There were too many to count."

His favorite aircraft? The McDonnell-Douglas DC-10.

Mr. Chance married Lois Marguerite Sawdey on Feb. 13, 1942, in Denver.

From 1968 to 1973 he was a Colorado state senator serving Boulder County-Longmont and a trusted friend of prominent Colorado Republicans John Love, Ted Strickland and Bill Armstrong, among others.

A staunch conservative, Mr. Chance also was acquainted with President Reagan.

"Yes, part of the Reagan revolution," his son said.

In 1957, Mr. Chance helped found Arvada's Community Baptist Church, now Centerpoint Community Church.

In 1972, after a long course of self-instruction, he began preaching and was interim pastor of Jamestown Church in that Colorado town.

In recent years, he was a congregant of Arvada Baptist Church.

If Mr. Chance had a major disappointment in his life, his family said, it came on June 9, 1979, when he captained his last flight for United, a Los Angeles-to-Denver hop in a 747.

Ten family members were on board, in the still-capable hands of an unhappy man.

"He was forced to retire on the eve of his 60th birthday," Hugh Jr. recalled, "and he was tremendously discouraged. I don't think he ever got over the trauma of that."

When Mr. Chance brought the big plane to the ground at Denver's Stapleton International Airport, no one felt the wheels touch. The entire company of passengers applauded. Outside, a black rain pelted the runway.

Services for Mr. Chance were Saturday at Centerpoint Community Church. Burial was in Platte- ville.

In addition to his wife and son, Hugh Jr., who live in Arvada, survivors include another son, Duane, of Denton, Texas, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Memorial contributions may be made to Arvada Baptist Church or Calvary Church in Longmont, through Ahlberg Funeral Chapel, Longmont.

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