LONGMEADOW – Joseph M. Gauthier, 27, began flying planes when he was 11 years old. Gauthier, a Longmeadow native and Air National Guard officer, died on Feb. 8 after an aerobatics plane he was piloting with fellow officer Amanda K. Herrington, 29, crashed near Redlands Municipal Airport in Redlands, Calif. Both died on impact. “He just loved to fly and at least he was able to enjoy his life until the last second,” his father Joseph L. Gauthier said Wednesday. A 2001 graduate of Longmeadow High School, Gauthier attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University where he developed an even greater love for flying, his father said. “He was a research meteorologist by trade, but he was fascinated with things that could fly, from airplanes to helicopters,” he said. Gauthier took flying lessons at Barnes Municipal Airport in Westfield as a child and obtained his pilot’s license before graduating from high school. “He didn’t even want to know how to drive a car. He just wanted to fly,” Gauthier said. Gauthier’s father and mother, Diane Gauthier, both live in Longmeadow. His younger sister, Rebecca Gauthier, 24, lives in Hoboken, New Jersey. A funeral service will be held for Gauthier at Forastiere Smith Funeral Home in East Longmeadow. He will be buried at the Massachusetts Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Agawam. “We are not sure when he will be sent home, so there are no final arrangements yet,” Gauthier said. Gauthier said his son lived in several states and has friends and family who will be coming from all over the country. “He had a sharp wit, a passion for life and learning and made friends wherever he went,” Gauthier said. “He was a courageous and hard-working man and he was so loved by his family.”
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