Services Saturday for FICO exec Brandt, who died in plane crash

Services will be held Saturday for Layne Brandt, 63, of Green Valley, a friendly and successful pecan farmer and FICO executive who died last week in a plane crash in the Santa Rita Mountains.

Brandt, who was born on Dec. 19, 1944, in Holland, Mich., first came to work for Farmers Investment Co. in 1969 as a mechanic and rose to become vice president for farm operations.

“Our hearts are aching today as we announce the untimely death of our dear friend,” who was considered FICO’s “Will Rogers-in-residence” because of his ready humor, unwavering moral compass, and common sense, FICO owners Dick and Nan Walden said in a prepared statement.

A memorial service will be held at 10 a.m. on Saturday at Valley Presbyterian Church, 2800 S. Camino Del Sol, Green Valley.

Brandt took off in a company plane at 2 p.m. Thursday from FICO’s San Simon operations, a 2,700-acre pecan orchard managed by his son Allen. He never arrived at his destination, the FICO airstrip in Continental.

The plane and Brandt’s body were found Saturday afternoon at the crash site in the Santa Ritas near Hart Butte, the FICO statement said.

National Transportation Safety Board spokesman Peter Knudsen said Tuesday an investigation had recovered most of the wreckage, but local authorities were helping NTSB staff recover the wings, which were in rugged terrain high above the other wreckage. He noted the cause was not yet determined, said there were no known witnesses and urged any witness to contact local police.

A preliminary report should be posted online by Friday, Aug. 22, Knudsen said, at the NTSB Web site at http://www.ntsb.gov under these headings: Aviation, Accident Database & Synopses, and Monthly lists.

The Waldens said Brandt was “a loving father; an intelligent, innovative and creative pecan farmer; a talented, successful business manager; an experienced pilot; an author; and a true cattleman with a passion for big game hunting. He was equally comfortable in a corporate boardroom, in the pilot’s seat of an airplane, mentoring his loyal employees, or on horseback.”

“Layne Brandt will be greatly missed,” Rob Call, extension horticulturist with the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension in Willcox, told the Willcox Range News on Monday.

“He was well known among pecan growers in Arizona, the Western United States, and the nation. Layne was a leader in terms of field production. He was out in the field doing it — not just sitting at a desk talking about it,” Call said.

Brandt was past president of the Arizona Pecan Growers and Western Pecan Growers, was president of the national organization, and had been on the boards of all those organizations. He also owned property in the Willcox area, with his own pecan operation in Kansas Settlement, Call said.

Though his counsel was often sought by his co-workers, he would routinely beg out of business meetings, saying, “I’ve got some pecans to grow.”

“Layne always had a smile for everyone and treated everyone with the same respect, whether it was a new employee just starting out or the president of the company,” the Waldens said.

Brandt was an experienced pilot and investigations were under way by the National Transportation Safety Board and other agencies.

Brandt is survived by his wife of 27 years, Eileen, and his children, Tammy (Tim) Aidlin; Lisa Brandt; Kelly (Dan) Haskins; Julie (Michael) Landman, and Allen (Amanda) Brandt, as well as his sister, Karen Brandt, of Tucson, his brother, Dale (Doreen) Brandt, of Nome, Alaska, his mother-in-law Pauline Baca, Belen, N.M., and a host of grandchildren.

Search efforts were extensive and Brandt’s family members wish to acknowledge the work of the Governor’s office, the Civil Air Patrol, the Sahuarita Police Department, Pima County Sheriff’s Department, Pima County Search and Rescue Team, the Immigration Customs Enforcement helicopter crew, the Davi-Monthan 55th Rescue Helicopter unit, the Cochise County Sheriff’s Department, and Cochise County Search & Rescue Team, as well as FICO employees, The Santa Rita Ranch and Diamond E cowboys.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be given in memory of Layne Brandt at any of the following charities: Casa de los Ninos, 1101 N. 4th Avenue, Tucson, AZ 85705, or call (520) 624-5600; New Mexico Boys and Girls Ranches, PO Box 9, Belen, NM 87002, or call (800) 660-0289, or Green Valley/Sahuarita Parkinson’s Support Group, PO Box 714, Green Valley, AZ 85622.

Also contributing: Willcox Range News /Wick News Service

pfranchine@sahuaritasun.com | 547-9738