Lovell native among Alaska plane crash victims on Flight 445 last week

A Lovell family is in mourning this week after their son and/or brother perished in an Alaska airplane crash last Thursday.

JaDee Moncur, son of Brent and Darlene Moncur of Lovell and brother of CaMee Nichols of Lovell, was one of nine passengers aboard Bering Air Flight 445 when it went down Thursday afternoon and crashed onto an ice flow around 30 miles southeast of Nome, Alaska. All nine perished in the crash, along with the pilot.

Moncur, 52, of Eagle River, Alaska, was one of four employees aboard the aircraft who worked for the company Support Services of Alaska, returning from starting up a new water plant in Unalakleet, a town of some 700 residents about 150 miles southeast of Nome, according to the Anchorage Daily News. Moncur was a Support Services senior engineer, the paper reported.

A 1990 graduate of Lovell High School, Moncur was active in sports and other activities at LHS and was a member of the school’s state champion 3,200-meter relay team in track and field, according to his obituary. He was voted Friendliest Student in the 1990 LHS yearbook, as well as Most Likely to Succeed as what the yearbook nicknamed him, “JaDee Joe College Moncur.”

He was also an officer in National Honor Society and, as a senior, qualified for State and placed in the 800 meters, 1,600 meters and 1,600-meter relay. He was also a manager on the boys basketball team.

Classmate Lynn Hitz called Moncur the “best friend a guy could have, definitely the kindest kid in my group of friends,” adding, “Brent was always our Scout leader, our Young Men’s Leader in church, so we spent a lot of time with Brent and JaDee. There had to be a group of about 16 of us who spent a lot time together, and out of those 16, he was the kindest and had the most gentle heart. He’d do anything for anybody and was always willing to help. As I remember back, he was sneaky with his sense of humor, so quiet you wouldn’t expect him to be as outgoing as he was.

“It leaves a hole in my heart and for the whole group of boys who were his friends,” Hitz continued. “With a lot of people you list on one hand your circle of friends, including me, but I don’t think I could use both hands and have enough fingers to count the number of us that he touched. I loved that kid.”

After graduation, Moncur moved on to BYU, where he continued to run track. He served mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salta, Argentina, and graduated from BYU in 1996 as a mechanical engineer. He remained active in the church throughout his life.

He lived life in Alaska to his fullest and was known for helping others. See more details about JaDee’s life in the obituary printed in this week’s newspaper.

A gather of friends and family will be held today (Thursday) from 7-9 p.m. at the Eagle River Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and a funeral service is scheduled for Saturday, Feb. 15, at 11 a.m. at the church in Eagle River. A Zoom link to the service may be found on the Legacy Funeral Home website.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests that donations be made for the Moncur children’s college/future funds via a Venmo link at username @staceymoncur. He will be interred in Brigham City, Utah, at a date to be determined.

He is survived by his wife, Stacey Moncur, children Carter (Mylan), Ethan and Olivia, parents Brent and Darlene Moncur, siblings EmRee and Jeff Pugmire, AshLee and Alisa Moncur, CaMee and Travis Nichols, MitChell and Cara Moncur and JanaLee and Blake Gustafson and numerous nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles and cousins.