Four rescue transport pilots & two animal welfare scientists noted in passing

(Beth Clifton collage)

Matthew and Paul Berkovitz, 69 & 36;  Seuk Kim, 49;  Lee Krulisch, 80;  Sheila Bolin,  65

Father and son volunteer animal rescue transport pilots Paul and Matthew Berkovitz,  69 and 36,  of Westlake,  California,  and Thousand Oaks,  California,  respectively,  volunteers for Pilots N Paws,  were killed along with their dog Brody at about 2:10 p.m. on May 6,  2025 when their kit-built Van RV-10 crashed in the Simi Valley,  a suburban neighborhood northeast of Los Angeles, soon after taking off from the William J. Fox Airfield in Lancaster.

Their destination was the Camarillo Airport,  60 miles southwest.

Said a family statement,  “Paul was a devoted father and husband,  a passionate pilot,  and a lifelong animal lover.  Brody, his loyal companion,  was by his side on many of his flights.  Matt shared his father’s passion for aviation.”

Paul & Matthew Berkovitz.

Second crash of same type of aircraft in Southern California this year

The light plane hit two homes.  Both homes were damaged by fire and impact,  but the residents,  who were reportedly inside,  “were evacuated with no reported injuries,”  according to the Ventura County Fire Department.

The crash was the second by a kit-built Van RV-10 in 2025 in Southern California.  The first killed the pilot and his teenaged daughter on January 2,  2025 in Fullerton,  injuring 20 warehouse workers on the ground.

The National Transportation Safety Board attributed the Fullerton crash to an unlatched cargo door,  known to have been defective since 2010.

“Vans sent the builder-owner a retrofit kit for a secondary door latch in January 2010,  but the latch was never installed,”  the National Transportation Safety Board reported.

The National Transportation Safety Board has not yet completed investigation of the Berkovitz crash.

Seuk Kim. (Facebook photo)

Seuk Kim of Freedom Flight

The Berkovitz crash came just over five months after a four-year volunteer animal rescue transport pilot Seuk Kim,  49,  of Freedom Flight,  crashed on November 26,  2024,  near Windham,  New York,  in the Catskill mountains.

Seuk Kim was flying three dogs from Maryland to the Animal Shelter of Schoharie Valley,  in Howe’s Cave,  New York,  about 30 miles east of Albany.

His plane was a Mooney M20J,  one of the latest models of an aircraft  in continuous production since 1953,  with more than 11,000 flown.

Reported Scott Simon on the November 30,  2024 edition of the National Public Radio broadcast Weekend Edition Saturday,   “Kim was originally from South Korea.  He and his wife, Anna Kang,  had three children,  and lived in Springfield, Virginia.  He worked in marketing and public relations,  and loved flying,  piloting as many as three flights a week,  so he could bring dogs for whom there was no room at a shelter,  to places that would take them in.

“Kim might have been happy to have us know that Whiskey,  a 4-month-old Labrador mix puppy,  survived the crash.  He has two broken legs,  but is recovering.  And Pluto, an 18-month-old terrier mix,  also survived,  and may already have been adopted.  A small puppy named Lisa,  sadly,  did not survive.

Paul Emaus. (Facebook photo)

Paul Emaus remembered

Paul and Matthew Berkovitz died nearly five years after fellow Pilots N Paws volunteer flyer Paul Emaus,  54,  of Hudsonville,  Michigan,  crashed on May 27,  2020 near Cambridge,   Ohio,  with no dogs aboard.  Rescued in critical condition,  Emaus died in hospital on May 31,  2020.

Emaus,  flying a Beechcraft-35-A33 Debonair,  made a belly landing at the Ohio State University Don Scott Airport on February 3,  2020,  en route to pick up a dog,   when his landing gear failed to descend.

            “Weeks later,”  Pilots N Paws posted to Facebook,  “after major engine work and a ferry permit to fly to a shop for the rest of the repairs needed,  he got 70 miles from his departure airport when the engine quit over rough terrain.”

The Beechcraft Debonair was a variant of the Beechcraft Bonanza,  introduced in 1947 and still in production,  with more than 17,000 flown.  The Debonair model was built from 1959 until 1965.

Leone (Lee) Krulisch.

  Leone G. “Lee” Krulisch built SCAW

Leone G. “Lee” Krulisch,  84,  executive director of the Scientists Center for Animal Welfare [SCAW] from March 1989 to March 2013,  died on March 31,  2025.

“She started employment with SCAW in 1984,”  a SCAW announcement recalled,”  under founder Barbara Orlans,  1928-2010,  a member of the Animal Welfare Institute science committee since 1964,  author of Animal Care from Protozoa to Small Mammals (1977)

In The Name of Science:  Issues in Responsible Animal Experimentation (1993),  and a contributor to many other volumes on science and animal welfare.

“At that time,  the office was in Dr. Orlans’ guest room,”  SCAW continued.  “In the beginning,  abuse of animals in school projects and science fairs was the focus.  SCAW gradually developed interests in the welfare of animals used in all research, testing and teaching.”

SCAW credited Krulisch with increasing institutional membership from the 10 founding members in 1989 to “about 150 members” at her death,  coming “from academia,  pharma and other companies,  and other organizations.

As well as serving on a variety of boards and committees,  including the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing,  Krulisch “was a community member of two different Institutional Animal Care & Use Committees for about fifteen years,”  SCAW said.

Krulisch “was always very fond of animals of all sorts,”  the SCAW announcement finished.  “In her youth these included rescuing and rehabilitating squirrels,  birds,  a Muscovy duck,  a pig,  and an occasional neighborhood dog (who, it turns out, was visiting and really didn’t need rescuing at all).  For some time, she was a foster parent for golden retrievers.”

Regal Swan Foundation founder Sheila Bolin

Sheila Alane Bolin,  65,  chief executive of the Regal Swan Foundation,  died November 11, 2024 after a long illness.

A noted amateur tennis player in the early 1980s,  Sheila Bolin after graduating from Eastern Kentucky University became one of the first female sheriff’s deputies in the state of Florida,  but resigned to pursue a master’s degree from the Florida State University’s College of Education in 1983,  then became a teaching tennis pro,  teaching tennis in Florida,  Mexico,  and the Bahamas,

Sheila Bolin in 1988 formed an organization called Tennis With A Different Swing to help children and others with disabilities to ®, Inc. in 1988.  This led to her receiving a “Daily Point of Light” award personally presented by former U.S. President George H.W. Bush.

(Beth Clifton collage)

“While continuing her tennis career, Sheila returned to the classroom as a defensive tactics instructor for the [Florida] police academy,  where she co-authored two law enforcement books,”  a family obituary recalled.

“Upon retiring from tennis,  Sheila became the swan keeper and wildlife manager at Orange Lake,”  the obituary continued.  In that capacity,   “she became a state-licensed alligator trapper and relocator.”

Sheila Bolin co-founded The Regal Swan Foundation in 1999.  This organization “was the first to pioneer the use of vaccines for botulism and West Nile Virus in swans in 2001,”  the family obituary recalled.

In 2007 Sheila Bolin volunteered with the Royal Swan Marker in the United Kingdom in 2007,  whose mandate to protect the Royal swans dates to the 12th century.

(Beth Clifton collage)

Named “Scientist of the Month” by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature in 2010,  Sheila Bolin went on to co-author a compendium for swan conservation,  Swans of The World Habitats,  published in 2012,  detailing the proper care of both captive and wild swans all over the world.

In later years Sheila Bolin advocated for mute swans,  in opposition to eradication efforts by state and federal agencies who regard the swans as an invasive species.

Beth “&’ Merritt Clifton.
(Gene Chontos photo)

“I will be assuming Sheila’s position as chief executive and president of the Regal Swan Foundation. I will continue Sheila’s work and legacy to stop the killing of mute swans across the U.S.,”  her twin sister Shirley pledged.

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