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Air crash photographer was 'best dad in world'
THE eight-year-old son of a photographer killed in an air tragedy in the United States has paid a heartbreaking tribute to "the best dad in the world".
THE eight-year-old son of a photographer killed in an air tragedy in the United States has paid a heartbreaking tribute to "the best dad in the world".
Stephen Fletcher (44), a freelance aviation photographer from Baston, near Stamford, died after the light aircraft he was travelling in crashed after take-off at an air show in Florida at 7.45am local time on Sunday.
Today, his widow, Sarah, released photographs of her husband and their two young children, Tom (8) and
Georgia (2), and spoke publicly for the first time about the family's grief.
Particularly poignant were the heartfelt words of their son, who has told of happy times shared with his father and how he and his younger sister are trying to understand what has happened.
"My dad was the best dad in the world and he was great at taking pictures," said the youngster. "I loved going on my motocross bike with him and playing the Wii I got for Christmas with him.
"I miss him so much and my little sister has been told he is a star in the sky, so we sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star to him every night."
Born on March 29, 1964, Mr Fletcher went to school at Deeping St James Primary and then Deepings Comprehensive, now known as The Deepings School, in Deeping St James.
After attending Stamford College, he developed a keen interest in photography during his first job in the film processing lab at Anglia Supercolour in Peterborough, and went on to study the subject at North East London Polytechnic.
Having marked himself out as a talented photographer, Mr Fletcher joined the staff at Key Publishing, in Stamford, before setting up his own freelance business, AV8 Images, last year.
His wife said he had a passion for aeroplanes and aviation and enjoyed travelling – particularly to America – as well as skiing, biking, baseball and moto cross.
She added that her husband was always keen to use his photography skills to help out friends and had earned the nickname "Storytime" because of his reputation for regaling people with tales of his travels.
Mrs Fletcher, who was also speaking on behalf of her husband's parents, Doreen and Collin, said the whole family was proud of his many achievements – both in and out of the job he loved.
She added that he was a "doting father" to his two children, and was passing on his enthusiasm for aeroplanes and motorbiking to both of them.
She said: "He will be sadly missed by many people from
work relationships, friends and all of the family, particularly his children.
"People from all over the world have been impacted by this untimely and nasty event and have been paying their respects already to the family.
"We have always known how good he was at his job, and it is becoming very clear the high regard he had from everyone within the aviation field for being one of the best photographers out there.
"The only solace we can deem from this tragedy is that he died in a country he loved to visit, doing what he loved."
Key Publishing's group editor-in-chief Paul Hamblin said Mr Fletcher's death had shocked staff at the Gwash Way firm, and paid tribute to the popular photographer. Air accident experts are currently investigating the cause of the crash. “I loved going on my motocross bike with him and playing the Wii I got for Christmas with him.
“I miss him so much and my little sister has been told he is a star in the sky, so we sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star to him every night.”
Born on March 29, 1964, Mr Fletcher went to school at Deeping St James Primary and then Deepings Comprehensive, now known as The Deepings School, in Deeping St James.
After attending Stamford College, he developed a keen interest in photography during his first job in the film processing lab at Anglia Supercolour in Peterborough, and went on to study the subject at North East London Polytechnic.
Having marked himself out as a talented photographer, Mr Fletcher joined the staff at Key Publishing, in Stamford, before setting up his own freelance business, AV8 Images, last year.
His wife said he had a passion for aeroplanes and aviation and enjoyed travelling – particularly to America – as well as skiing, biking, baseball and moto cross.
She added that her husband was always keen to use his photography skills to help out friends and had earned the nickname “Storytime” because of his reputation for regaling people with tales of his travels.
Mrs Fletcher, who was also speaking on behalf of her husband’s parents, Doreen and Collin, said the whole family was proud of his many achievements – both in and out of the job he loved.
She added that he was a “doting father” to his two children, and was passing on his enthusiasm for aeroplanes and motorbiking to both of them.
She said: “He will be sadly missed by many people from work relationships, friends and all of the family, particularly his children.
“People from all over the world have been impacted by this untimely and nasty event and have been paying their respects already to the family.
“We have always known how good he was at his job, and it is becoming very clear the high regard he had from everyone within the aviation field for being one of the best photographers out there.
“The only solace we can deem from this tragedy is that he died in a country he loved to visit, doing what he loved.”
Key Publishing’s group editor-in-chief Paul Hamblin said Mr Fletcher’s death had shocked staff at the Gwash Way firm, and paid tribute to the popular photographer. Air accident experts are currently investigating the cause of the crash.
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