"Ein alter, dauerhaft gebrochener Berufspilot und Fluglehrer"
In English, "An old, permanently broken professional pilot and flight instructor."

A few words about becoming an organ donor, like me and Mark Oberparleiter. The following excerpt is from a letter to the mother of a friend and fellow pilot/flight team member, Boeing 757 - First Officer Mark D. Oberparleiter, that lost his life in 2001...

"A letter to Mark's mother from the Donor Network of Arizona...

On behalf of Donor Network of Arizona, I would like to express my sympathy for the loss of your son, Mark. I know that only time can ease your sorrow, but you and your family have made the choice to offer new life and hope to others, and I hope this brings you some comfort and consolation during this difficult time.

As a result of your decision, the lives of several people have been dramatically changed. I would like to share with you a little bit about the transplant recipients.

The recipient of the right kidney and pancreas is a 41-year-old man in Maryland. This was a perfect match. He lives with his son. The kidney function is improving and the pancreas is doing well.

The liver and left kidney were successfully transplanted to a 43-year old gentleman in Arizona. He is single and has 4 children. He used to manage a convenience store and enjoys softball, bowling, boating and music. Both the liver and kidney are doing well.

Mark's heart went to a 44-year-old man from Arizona. He is married and has 4 children, ages 20, 19, 12 and 8. He also has two stepchildren, ages 10 and 8. He works as a carpenter. The heart function is excellent!

Both lungs were transplanted to a 43-year-old man in Arizona. He is married and has three children, one of them is 16 years old and two are 18. He is in the air force and enjoys spending free time with his family. The lungs are also functioning very well.

Hope for many sightless people depends on the thoughtfulness of individuals like you who are able to think beyond their own grief and sorrow so that one day blindness will be prevented and vision restored to many who suffer with loss of sight.

Your donation of corneas has given the gift of sight to a 67-year-old man. The other cornea will be used to help research physicians in their work to understand degenerative eye condition.

Through your tissue donation, still others will have their suffering alleviated and their quality of life improved. We were able to recover both bone and veins. We were unable to recover skin, due to the time constraints that would have prevented recovery of the other tissue. With tissue donation there is up to a six-month processing period before tissue can be transplanted.

While eye and organ recipients are readily known it is more difficult to trace the donation to tissue recipients because a small amount of tissue can help so many different people. On behalf of these recipients and their families, I want to thank you for the thoughtfulness and generosity expressed at the time of your own unexpected loss.

The decision for donation will always be remembered with gratitude. You have given others a gift of life. I hope this will in someway lighten your burden in these sad times..."

You can save lives and give sight to the blind by becoming an organ and tissue donor. As a "family decision" at the dining room table, I did - in 1997 - and I sign my driver license at every renewal. Once done, you are still missing, but parts of you will live on while giving the gift of life to others.

As of 2 February 2019, there were 120,000 people waiting for life-saving organ transplants in the US...and the list is growing.

Donate life - Talk to your family, then sign your driver license as an organ donor. You can do it online, too. Search Google for "organdonor dot gov sign-up"

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
End childhood cancer - Donate Now!
Families never receive a bill for treatment, travel, housing or food from St. Jude Children's Hospital. Search Google for "St. Jude donate."

Note: 20 years ago, I spent two days east of runway 35R/17L at KCNW (formerly known as James Connally Air Force Base - now TSTC), finding/photographing 248 headstones (about 1/3 of the total) for Concord Cemetery in Waco, Texas. If anyone needs a photograph for a memorial at Concord Cemetery, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Anyone can send me an e-mail, here:

[email protected]
Please enter "Findagrave" in the Subject Line.
Otherwise, your email will likely land in my Spam folder - never to be seen.

James M. Paton, Organ and Tissue Donor

"Ein alter, dauerhaft gebrochener Berufspilot und Fluglehrer"
In English, "An old, permanently broken professional pilot and flight instructor."

A few words about becoming an organ donor, like me and Mark Oberparleiter. The following excerpt is from a letter to the mother of a friend and fellow pilot/flight team member, Boeing 757 - First Officer Mark D. Oberparleiter, that lost his life in 2001...

"A letter to Mark's mother from the Donor Network of Arizona...

On behalf of Donor Network of Arizona, I would like to express my sympathy for the loss of your son, Mark. I know that only time can ease your sorrow, but you and your family have made the choice to offer new life and hope to others, and I hope this brings you some comfort and consolation during this difficult time.

As a result of your decision, the lives of several people have been dramatically changed. I would like to share with you a little bit about the transplant recipients.

The recipient of the right kidney and pancreas is a 41-year-old man in Maryland. This was a perfect match. He lives with his son. The kidney function is improving and the pancreas is doing well.

The liver and left kidney were successfully transplanted to a 43-year old gentleman in Arizona. He is single and has 4 children. He used to manage a convenience store and enjoys softball, bowling, boating and music. Both the liver and kidney are doing well.

Mark's heart went to a 44-year-old man from Arizona. He is married and has 4 children, ages 20, 19, 12 and 8. He also has two stepchildren, ages 10 and 8. He works as a carpenter. The heart function is excellent!

Both lungs were transplanted to a 43-year-old man in Arizona. He is married and has three children, one of them is 16 years old and two are 18. He is in the air force and enjoys spending free time with his family. The lungs are also functioning very well.

Hope for many sightless people depends on the thoughtfulness of individuals like you who are able to think beyond their own grief and sorrow so that one day blindness will be prevented and vision restored to many who suffer with loss of sight.

Your donation of corneas has given the gift of sight to a 67-year-old man. The other cornea will be used to help research physicians in their work to understand degenerative eye condition.

Through your tissue donation, still others will have their suffering alleviated and their quality of life improved. We were able to recover both bone and veins. We were unable to recover skin, due to the time constraints that would have prevented recovery of the other tissue. With tissue donation there is up to a six-month processing period before tissue can be transplanted.

While eye and organ recipients are readily known it is more difficult to trace the donation to tissue recipients because a small amount of tissue can help so many different people. On behalf of these recipients and their families, I want to thank you for the thoughtfulness and generosity expressed at the time of your own unexpected loss.

The decision for donation will always be remembered with gratitude. You have given others a gift of life. I hope this will in someway lighten your burden in these sad times..."

You can save lives and give sight to the blind by becoming an organ and tissue donor. As a "family decision" at the dining room table, I did - in 1997 - and I sign my driver license at every renewal. Once done, you are still missing, but parts of you will live on while giving the gift of life to others.

As of 2 February 2019, there were 120,000 people waiting for life-saving organ transplants in the US...and the list is growing.

Donate life - Talk to your family, then sign your driver license as an organ donor. You can do it online, too. Search Google for "organdonor dot gov sign-up"

St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
End childhood cancer - Donate Now!
Families never receive a bill for treatment, travel, housing or food from St. Jude Children's Hospital. Search Google for "St. Jude donate."

Note: 20 years ago, I spent two days east of runway 35R/17L at KCNW (formerly known as James Connally Air Force Base - now TSTC), finding/photographing 248 headstones (about 1/3 of the total) for Concord Cemetery in Waco, Texas. If anyone needs a photograph for a memorial at Concord Cemetery, please don't hesitate to contact me.

Anyone can send me an e-mail, here:

[email protected]
Please enter "Findagrave" in the Subject Line.
Otherwise, your email will likely land in my Spam folder - never to be seen.

James M. Paton, Organ and Tissue Donor