The last chance to say goodbye

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, November 26, 2003

SNOHOMISH — The goodbye note from fourth-grader Marisa Vandeventer was neatly penned in blue on a family message board.

"I love you Shellee. I love you daddy," she wrote.

Marisa, 9, and her older sister, Elisse, 11, were supposed to spend Thanksgiving in Palm Springs, Calif., with their mother, Sondra Brewer, and stepfather Phil Brewer of Everett.

They knew their dad, John Vandeventer, and stepmother Shellee Vandeventer of Snohomish would miss them. They didn’t know it would be their last chance to say goodbye.

The two girls, their mother and stepfather were killed when their single-engine airplane crashed Tuesday morning near Scappoose, Ore., northwest of Vancouver, Wash. The cause of the crash is still under investigation.

Relatives who gathered Wednesday to share memories of the girls and Sondra and Phil Brewer said family is what mattered to them most.

"They were all very close," said Sondra Brewer’s sister, Debbie Hughes of Langley. "They were the happiest kids you’d ever meet. My sister just lived for them. She’d do anything for them … and she and Phil were so in love; they couldn’t have made it apart."

The girls, who attended Cathcart Elementary School in Snohomish, were devoted to both their mother’s and father’s families, relatives said.

"There were so many people who loved them," father John Vandeventer said. "Marisa was just the life of the party. Elisse, she was an artist with a natural talent for drawing. … This is such a shock for all of us."

Elisse recently drew a picture of her dad and Shellee Vandeventer on their wedding day. Marisa, who wanted to be a veterinarian, sketched a picture of herself caring for a sick dog.

The girls were an integral part of the New Horizon Christian Church in Monroe, where their father teaches Sunday school, Pastor Tim Moore said.

"I have no doubt that those little girls are in God’s presence," Moore said. "But it’s very hard right now. They had a tremendous influence on our church."

Elisse was outgoing and recently spoke about her faith in God to the congregation, he said.

"You knew there was something special in her heart and mind. Marisa was quieter, but she was also a special girl," Moore said. "They loved their family so much. They were the ideal blended family."

Sondra Brewer, who died three days before her 39th birthday, made her daughters her top priority, relatives and friends said.

"They were just everything to her," said Caryl Thorp, managing partner at Everett accounting firm Moss Adams, where Sondra Brewer worked until September 2002.

Sondra Brewer, who grew up on Whidbey Island, took a job as a tax specialist at a Snohomish business so she could spend more time with the girls.

"She was always involved at her girls’ school," Thorp said. "She loved them very much, I know."

At Cathcart Elementary on Wednesday, students wrote notes and drew pictures for the girls’ family, Snohomish School District spokeswoman J. Marie Merrifield said. Counselors were available to talk to the kids.

"This is affecting the entire Cathcart school community," Merrifield said. "It’s hard, and the timing does make it even more difficult."

Phil Brewer’s family in California was expecting to hear from him by 4 p.m. Tuesday and was looking forward to spending Thanksgiving with him, Sondra Brewer and the girls, his sister, Denise Brewer Reiner, said via e-mail.

"Phil’s entire family is devastated," she wrote, especially his son, Matthew, 23, and twins Katie and Christopher, both 17. All live in Tacoma.

Phil Brewer, 47, was a manager for flight test manufacturing operations for Boeing and an experienced pilot, his family said. He had recently returned from testing a new Boeing jet. He was piloting the single-engine Beech Bonanza airplane when it crashed shortly after he had radioed a mayday call, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Phil Brewer’s family said he loved to fly. He bought his plane, built in 1965, a year ago and stored it at Arlington Municipal Airport.

"We always felt so secure with him, and we’re sure there’s nothing he could have done" to prevent the crash, Hughes said.

Memorial services for the family had not been scheduled as of Wednesday.

Sondra Brewer’s family canceled their Thanksgiving dinner when they learned of the crash, she said. Then they changed their minds.

"We decided to get together for the kids and just be together as a family and remember them," Hughes said.

Reporter Katherine Schiffner: 425-339-3436 or schiffner@heraldnet.com.