Friends remember entrepreneur killed in plane crash
Nick Boehle, the entrepreneurial 27-year-old killed last week in a Mesa plane crash, launched his medical diagnostics business with a well-worn desk in a Phoenix hospital eight years ago.
The Scottsdale man told a friend he needed “an office so people would think I was reputable.”
“He had this dinky little office in a hospital, a ‘Sanford and Son’ old desk, and an old computer,” said Kenny Overton, 28, a Phoenix firefighter and longtime friend of Boehle.
But Boehle grew out of that “dinky little office” and expanded his NeuroDiagnostic Laboratories and American Medical Diagnostics operations to a better location in Phoenix, and expanded to Dallas.On Wednesday morning, Boehle and his assistant, Lisa O’Neal, 28, of Phoenix, had climbed into Boehle’s plane with longtime friend Brian White, 27, at the controls.They were on their way to Orange County, Calif., where Boehle was considering adding a third operation.
But just after their early morning take-off from Falcon Field in east Mesa, the plane developed mechanical problems. Onlookers said they believe White, the pilot, plunged the plane into an orchard to avoid slamming into nearby businesses.
The plane burst into flames. The longtime friends died together.
Overton, part of Boehle’s tight knit but wide circle of friends, attended Arizona State University with the young businessman.
Overton majored in communications. Boehle burrowed into business.
“He had a five-year plan, and he didn’t lose sight of his goals,” Overton said.
And he was passionate about flying, urging his friends to let him fly them “up to Seattle.”
Boehle and other pilots built a Web site, Maverick Aviation, a social networking site designed “to bring the community of aviation enthusiasts and pilots together.”
Anthony Sciarpelletti, 36, another friend, said Boehle had the “quiet confidence,” needed to navigate the steely corporate world.
And he was cool in a crises.
Last month, during a surfing trip to Mexico, a wave tore Boehle’s surfboard away from him, sending it into his friend’s face.
“I was bleeding, and I kept asking him how my face looked,” Sciarpelletti said. “This guy was so under control. He got me out of the water and to the doctor. He could have panicked.”
That was not Boehle’s style, said Scott Roelofs, 28, another friend. “He never made anyone feel he didn’t have time for them.”