Ken Hesse could go where few other pilots are allowed -- inside the cockpit of an aircraft carrying the president of the United States.
From the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s, he was a member of the Air Force One crew. In that capacity, he piloted trips for one president, Gerald Ford, and two future presidents, California Gov. Ronald Reagan and CIA Director George H.W. Bush.
He was part of the air crew that took President Richard Nixon on his 1972 trip to China, and before that he flew Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on several then-secret missions to Beijing to lay the groundwork for Mr. Nixon's history-making visit.
"Mr. Kissinger and Dad got to be rather chummy," said a daughter, Cindy Hesse of Woodstock.
Not only did Mr. Hesse fly U.S. leaders abroad, he brought world figures to America, such as Emperor Hirohito of Japan, President Anwar Sadat of Egypt and President Josip Tito of Yugoslavia.
"The kind of pilots the Air Force chooses to fly Air Force One -- they're the best of the best, and Ken certainly belonged in that category," said Ed Klonoski of Fayetteville, manager of FlightSafety International's local training center.
Mr. Hesse went on to command the White House's special air missions unit, arranging transportation for presidential staff, Cabinet members and White House guests.
"As an Air Force officer, Ken was incredibly self-disciplined, hard-working and good at encouraging subordinates to perform at their best," said Al Ramsey of Houston, a retired lieutenant colonel who served with Mr. Hesse at Andrews Air Force Base in Maryland.
Kenneth Robert Hesse, 76, died of heart failure April 7 at his Woodstock home. A memorial service will be at 2 p.m. Saturday at Woodstock Funeral Home. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his memory to the Air Force Aid Society, www.afas.org.
Retiring from the Air Force in 1981 at the rank of colonel, Mr. Hesse moved to Atlanta to manage FlightSafety International's Atlanta training center. Its 56 instructors train commercial and corporate pilots on 17 simulators, each designed to replicate the flying experience of a particular aircraft.
"I was so impressed with Ken as a fellow officer that I recruited him for that job," said Bruce Whitman of Greenwich, Conn., a former Air Force colleague who now is president and CEO of FlightSafety International.
"Ken was an absolute joy to work for," said Mr. Klonoski, who succeeded Mr. Hesse as manager. "He would develop an action plan for our employees and let them carry it out. He was no micromanager. He believed in his people."
Ken Motschwiller, chief financial officer of FlightSafety International, headquartered in Flushing, N.Y., considered Mr. Hesse a mentor.
"I was fairly young when I joined the company, and I looked to Ken to share his business acumen with me," he said. "Ken analyzed everything very carefully, and his conclusions were always on point."
Retiring from FlightSafety International in 2000, Mr. Hesse was eager to show his wife, Pat Hesse, many of the places around the world he had seen during his military career. Over the past decade, the two of them went on more than 20 ocean and river cruises around Europe, Asia, the Mideast, Australia and the Americas.
"Ken had read many books on world history and often knew more about the sites we visited than our tour guides," Mrs. Hesse said.
Also surviving are another daughter, Tracy Dropping of Napa, Calif.; a sister, Marilyn Weltz of San Antonio, Texas; and three grandchildren.
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