Capt. Karl Patrik Youngblood Memorial Fund


TYPE OF FUND:  Field of Interest

DATE ESTABLISHED:  Initiated November 1998                Established May 12, 1999 

PURPOSE:  To provide funding for emergency personnel and/or their families. 

DISTRIBUTION:  The proceeds of this fund are to be used to aid with the cost of training opportunities for emergency medical services personnel, particularly those involved in EMT-Basic, EMT-Paramedic or Emergency Vehicle operation classes.  Upon the recommendation by the Grants or Scholarship Committee and approval by the full Board of Directors of TCF. 

VARIANCE POWER:  If, in the judgment of the TCF Board of Directors, the restrictions and conditions of the fund become unnecessary, incapable of fulfillment or inconsistent with the charitable needs of the community, the TCF Board of Directors maintains the right to modify the terms of this fund. 

FUNDING:  Memorial donations by friends and family.  

BACKGROUND:  Capt. Karl P. Youngblood, a search and rescue pilot stationed at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, NV, died September 3, 1998.  Burial, with full military honors, was held at O’Fallon city Cemetery, Il, September 18, 1998.  Final military honors were held as Arlington National Cemetery, October 1 (section 34, grave 3392).  A memorial service was held October 24, at the First Baptist Church in Parsons.

Karl was born March 31, 1969, in Farmington Hills, MI.  He moved to Tucker County in 1976.  He attended Tucker County schools until early 1985 when he left to be schooled non-traditionally.  After a few months of intensive study and preparation, he enrolled at Davis & Elkins College, Elkins, WV as one of their youngest full-time students in September 1985.  Between 1986 and January 1988 he worked as a phlebotomist and lab assistant at Tucker County Emergency Ambulatory Center (now Tucker Community Care) in Parsons and at Davis Memorial Hospital in Elkins while attending D&E.  He also worked as a volunteer with the Tucker County Emergency Medical Squad (EMS) and enlisted in the U.S. Army Reserves where he completed basic training and attended the U.S. Army X-ray Specialist Course graduating as their Distinguished Honor Graduate.

In January 1988 he enrolled at WVU in electrical engineering and in August 1989 he left the U.S. Army Reserves to enroll in the Air Force reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program where he hoped to obtain training as a jet pilot.  Shortly thereafter he was awarded an Air Force scholarship and later he obtained his jet training slot.  He graduated cum laude and as the Distinguished Graduate of the USAF ROTC in May 1992.

All through his years at D&E, WVU with the Army and the Air Force, he would return to Tucker county as often as he could, many times bringing friends to enjoy the people, mountains, forests and rivers.  He enjoyed working with all the people in Tucker and Randolph counties and there is no doubt that his career in Search and Rescue was motivated, to a large extent, by his experiences here.

From May 1993 through August 1994 Karl trained at Reese AFB, TX, to receive his jet pilot certification.  Thereafter, in response to the needs of the Air Force, he entered helicopter training at Fort Rucker, AL, completing his helicopter certification in December 1994.  In January 1995, he was assigned to the 66th Rescue Squadron at Nellis AFT, NV.  His helicopter and crew were instrumental in saving the lives of eight individuals between 1995 and 1998.

In September 1997, Karl married Lee Anne Bloom, whom he had met at WVU, in a ceremony at the First United Methodist Church in O’Fallon, IL.  Their home, in Henderson, NV, was a happy one and they remembered with fondness their times in West Virginia.  On September 3, 1998, on a night training mission in the Nevada desert, Captain Youngblood lost his life in a mid-air helicopter collision.  At the time, he was survived by his father, David C. Youngblood of Hendricks, WV, and mother Noreen C. Nys of Pinckney, MI; sisters Yvonne and Laura Youngblood, brothers John and Erik Youngblood, and his wife, Capt. Lee Ann Bloom Youngblood of O’Fallon, IL.