McHENRY – Retired military officer Denny Hall, who died in late May after his plane crashed, is remembered by friends and family for his passion for flying and high spirits.

“Flight was in his DNA,” said Lisa Hall, his wife. “He was just full of life and adventure. He was ready to do anything at a minute’s notice and make it fun.”

Denny Hall died May 26 from injuries suffered in a plane crash in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin.

Arriving officers confirmed that a single-engine plane had crashed in the field outside of Sheboygan city limits that day.

The pilot of the plane was identified as Denny Hall, 66, of McHenry, and the passenger was Filip Smecko, 19, of Janesville, Wisconsin. Smecko also died in the crash.

“Filip was Denny at 19,” Lisa Hall said. “He was a friend. They both shared that passion for flying.”

Hall owned the Aerotek Pitts S-2A fixed-wing single-engine aircraft that crashed. The cause of the crash still is under investigation, the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Office said.

“It’s devastating,” Lisa Hall said. “He was passionate, kind and very pure of heart and spirit. He was very confident. He’d walk into a room and light it up.”

Denny Hall was born in Toledo, Ohio. He graduated from Start High School in Toledo and from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida in 1975 with a bachelor’s degree in aeronautics. He was commissioned as a U.S. Navy officer, where he served from 1975 to 1988. Hall would go on to earn the rank of Navy lieutenant and was a flight deck officer on an aircraft carrier.

After serving in the Navy, Hall became a member of the U.S. Air National Guard in Toledo, Ohio, serving in the 180th Fighter Group, where he was involved in planning missions in a fighter jet.

One of the combat missions Hall was involved in was Operation Just Cause – a U.S. invasion of Panama to overthrow military dictator Manuel Noriega.

Hall joined American Airlines in 1985. He served as an international captain for 30 years. The McHenry resident had logged more than 16,000 hours in the air with routes to Europe, South America, the Caribbean, Asia, Hawaii and Alaska, according to his obituary.

After Hall retired from American Airlines, he joined Super Mix USA in 2015 as a corporate chief pilot and director of flight operations.

“We became very good friends over the two years we knew each other, and he was much more than our corporate pilot,” said Jack Pease, owner of both Super Mix Inc. and Super Aggregates.

Hall is survived by several family members, including his wife, Lisa Hall, who he married Feb. 22, 2002, at St. Mary Catholic Church in Woodstock.

“He could not have been a better husband and best friend,” Lisa Hall said. “He was the love of my life.”

He also was a founding member and a post commander of the Johnsburg Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 11496.

George Braun, another founding member of the Johnsburg VFW, said he’d known Hall for 20 years. Braun described Hall as a free-spirited patriot with a good sense of humor.

“He was sort of a brother I’ve never had,” Braun said. “I was a fighter pilot in Vietnam and a commercial pilot for United Airlines. Since we had a lot in common, we talked about a lot of stuff, including stuff that was pretty personal.”

Braun said Hall was supposed to fly over McHenry County for Memorial Day, which was three days after the crash.

“He was completing all his bucket list goals before the crash, and I miss him because we’ve been tight for such a long time,” Braun said.

His funeral service will be Saturday in Toledo, Ohio. Hall’s cremated remains will be placed in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia.

A private Johnsburg VFW celebration of life gathering and service also will be held in Johnsburg to honor the retired military officer in July, Braun said.

For anyone wishing to send an expression of sympathy, Hall's family is requesting that memorial tributes in his name be sent to the Johnsburg VFW Voice for Democracy and Patriot's Pen Scholarship Awards at the Greater Johnsburg Area VFW Facebook; The Smile Train, my.smiletrain.org/donation/donate/givenow; or Shriners Hospitals for Children, www.shrinershospitalsforchildren.org/en/Donate.