Funeral Held For Bob Odegaard - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

Funeral Held For Bob Odegaard

He was a pilot, a mentor and a friend to thousands. In his 66-years, Bob Odegaard touched the lives of many throughout the world.

Tragically, last week, Odegaard died doing what he loved .

his plane crashed as he was practicing for an air show in Valley City.

Today, he was laid to rest in front of hundreds of his closest friends and family.

As Bob Odegaard was laid to rest, tears streamed down the faces of those closest too him. A 21-gun salute for the Army Reserve veteran and a somber flyover including the Missing Man Fly-By for the father of three.

Hundreds attended the services in Kindred to remember the husband, father and friend.

Lyle Andvik: He was not only my first instructor, he was my best instructor over the 40-years. He was a good friend, a great mentor, just a wonderful guy.

Tom Kenville: I had unconditional love for Bob, there's nothing I wouldn't do for him and nothing he wouldn't do for me.

Afterwards, a celebration of Bob Odegaard's life at the Fargo Air Museum where he served as one of four founding board members.

Kenville: He probably has affected more than 50-thousand people in his lifetime. My own grandson met him, and he said "Grandpa, that's like meeting Jeter and A-Rod on the same day."

To the outside world he was known as a legend in aviation. A brilliant mechanic and inventor who could restore any plane piece by piece from the ground up. He even used his talents to compete on three episodes of The Learning Channel's Junkyard Wars in 2003 with former North Dakota Governor Ed Shafer.

Ed Shafer: If you knew him for five minutes or knew him for five years, he was your friend.

But Ultimately, Bob Odegaard will be remembered not only as an aviator, but more importantly, as a mentor, a friend, and a truly remarkable person.

Andvik: Lot of people look up to him and he's done such a great job promoting aviation throughout the whole country and throughout the whole world.

Shafer: Bob was one of the most kind and honorable people that you could ever run across.

Kenville: Goodbye Bob, and you noticed, I looked up.

Bob Odegaard wore many hats in his life, airplane Mechanic, teacher, entrepreneur, musician, even briefly, reality-tv star.

He will be remembered as nothing short of a legend among the entire Aviation community.

Bob is survived by his wife, Donna, sons, Brady and Casey, and daughter, Halley.

All of his children are currently in the aviation industry.