12/21/24
July 29, 2011
Plane Crash Killed Sports Collector, Million-Dollar Memorabilia Hoard: In February 2009, a commuter plane crashed on approach to Buffalo and killed 49 people on board and a man in a house struck by the plane. The man, 61-year-old Doug Wielinski, had a "world-class" collection of sports memorabilia that could've been worth $1 million, much of which was destroyed by the crash. His widow Karen is telling the story of the Vietnam veteran, father of four daughters and sports collector -- who was assembling a 1933 Buffalo Bisons puzzle the moment he died. "They're worth $500 or $600 apiece, if you can find them, but they're impossible to find," said his best friend, Jim Maciejewski. "I've been collecting, what, 55 years now, and I had one. Doug was exuberant on the phone: 'Macie, I found the Bisons puzzles.' That was the last time we talked."
I remember when that crash occurred and the news broke that one poor bastard on the ground had been killed. I'd never heard before this that he was sitting on a huge sports card and memorabilia hoard.
posted by rcade at 12:46 PM on July 30, 2011
For me, a classic case of "I haven't got time for this right now, but I can't walk away from it". I was familiar with a couple of people on the flight but knew nothing about the person on the ground. That family and friends that got ripped apart, just great folks all around. Great read, thanks for posting.