SILVER SPRING TOWNSHIP, Pa. (WIVB) — Two Orchard Park businessmen were killed in a helicopter crash in Pennsylvania Thursday night.

The incident happened around 8:30 p.m. in Silver Spring Township.

The helicopter, which was en route to Buffalo from Washington D.C., was being piloted by 58-year-old Mark Croce. Michael Capriotto, 63, was the passenger.

Mark Croce was a longtime and well-known developer and helicopter pilot. He owned a number of local businesses, such as Buffalo Chophouse, the Curtiss Hotel, Statler City and the building that houses Dinosaur BBQ.

“Mark was a visionary,” recalled State Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples-Stokes, who was a friend of Croce’s.

Peoples-Stokes said the void created by Croce’s loss will be filled by his legacy, which showed what people can do with vigor and vision.

“He saw empty buildings that could be revived and turned them back to life,” the assemblywoman added. “He did that not just with one building in Downtown Buffalo but with several. I think his vision speaks volumes to what the potential is for our community when people step up with an idea that they see to fruition.

“Mark did that.”

Buffalo Mayor Byron Brown also spoke on the tragedy, saying, “I am deeply saddened by the sudden and tragic passing of my dear friend Mark Croce…Mark was a big part of our downtown resurgence, adding jobs for residents and creating destinations that have brought many visitors to the City of Buffalo.”

Capriotto also owns a number of businesses, including the Kwik Fill in Orchard Park, where his son has served as a cashier for many years.

Orchard Park Mayor Jo Ann Litwin Clinton says Capriotto, who served as a village trustee, was a “pillar of the community.”

More public figures, such as Erie County Executive Mark Poloncarz and County Comptroller Stefan Mychajliw, also made statements following the deaths of the businessmen.

“I’m shocked and very saddened to wake up to the sad news of the helicopter crash that took the lives of Mark Croce and Michael Capriotto,” Poloncarz said. “Mark was a very experienced pilot and loved traveling in his helicopter. My deepest condolences go out to both families at this sad time.”

“Mark Croce believed in the resurgence and potential of Buffalo when not many others did,” Mychajliw said. “Mark took a chance on developing in Buffalo, and in doing so, he inspired others to follow suit. Mark was the spark, the catalyst, of our downtown core’s rebirth.”

More reactions to the deaths of Croce and Capriotto can be found here.

The FAA says the aircraft was a Robinson R66 helicopter. When the crash occurred, no one on the ground was injured.

It’s not clear what caused this crash to happen, but the FAA and National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) are looking into it.

https://www.wivb.com/news/local-news/erie-county/orchard-park/two-orchard-park-men-killed-in-pennsylvania-helicopter-crash/

Neil Peart, the drummer and lyricist for Rush, died Tuesday, January 7th, in Santa Monica, California at age 67. The cause was brain cancer, which he had been quietly battling for three years, according to Elliot Mintz, a spokesperson for the Peart family. A representative for the band confirmed the news to Rolling Stone.

Peart was widely considered one of rock’s greatest drummers, with a flamboyant yet utterly precise style that paid homage to his hero, The Who’s Keith Moon, while going well beyond that example. He joined singer-bassist Geddy Lee and guitarist Alex Lifeson in Rush in 1974, and his virtuosic playing and literate, wildly imaginative lyrics – which drew on Ayn Rand and science fiction, among other influences – helped make the trio one of the key bands of the classic-rock era. His drum fills on songs like “Tom Sawyer” were pop hooks in their own right, each one an unforgettable mini-composition. A rigorous autodidact and a gifted writer, Peart was also the author of numerous books.

Peart never stopped believing in the possibilities of rock (“a gift beyond price,” he called it in Rush’s 1980 track “The Spirit of Radio”) and despising what he saw as over-commercialization of the music industry. “It’s about being your own hero,” he told Rolling Stone in 2015. “I set out to never betray the values that 16-year-old had, to never sell out, to never bow to the man. A compromise is what I can never accept.”

“Neil is the most air-drummed-to drummer of all time,” former Police drummer Stewart Copeland said in 2015. “Neil pushes that band, which has a lot of musicality, a lot of ideas crammed into every eight bars — but he keeps the throb, which is the important thing. And he can do that while doing all kinds of cool shit.”

Rush finished their final tour in 2015; Peart was done with the road and eager to spend more time with his wife, Carrie Nuttal, and daughter Olivia.

On August 10th, 1997, Peart’s 19-year-old daughter, Selena, died in a single-car accident on the long drive to her university in Toronto. Just five months later, Selena’s mother – Peart’s common-law wife of 23 years, Jackie — was diagnosed with terminal cancer, quickly succumbing. Peart told his bandmates to consider him retired, and he embarked on a solitary motorcycle trip across the United States. He remarried in 2000, and found his way back to Rush by 2001.

Peart grew up in Port Dalhousie, a middle-class suburb 70 miles from Toronto. As a teen, he permed his hair, took to wearing a cape and purple boots on the city bus, and scrawled “God is dead” on his bedroom wall. At one point, he got in trouble for pounding out beats on his desk during class. His teacher’s idea of punishment was to insist that he bang on his desk nonstop for an hour’s worth of detention, time he happily spent re-creating Keith Moon’s parts from Tommy.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/neil-peart-rush-obituary-936221/

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