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Local builder, pilot enjoyed serving his neighbors

Date published: 2/24/2006

By KELLY HANNON

Entrepreneur Rick Potter touched the lives of thousands throughout the Fredericksburg community, as a businessman and a citizen.

Many live in houses built by his company, Potter Homes.

Thousands have run down Caroline Street on Thanksgiving morning in the Turkey Trot. Potter Homes has been a major sponsor of the 5-k road race since 1997.

Potter was seemingly everywhere--a deacon at Fredericksburg Baptist Church, a member of Stafford Rotary Club, a crucial volunteer with the local Habitat for Humanity chapter. He served spaghetti to the homeless at his church's weekly dinners.

An outdoorsman, he enjoyed scuba diving, boating, running and flying.

A licensed pilot, Potter used his skills and personal plane last year to join Angel Flight America, a Virginia Beach-based operation that gives free rides to patients in need of distant medical care.

"He was always willing to share that joy for living with people," said the Rev. Larry Haun, senior pastor of Fredericksburg Baptist Church.

Potter, 49, was one of four men who died in a plane crash just outside Stafford Regional Airport late Wednesday night.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete last night. They are being handled by Found & Sons Funeral Home, Fredericksburg.

Potter was a devoted family man, friends and colleagues said in interviews yesterday.

He helped start the Fredericksburg Juniors Volleyball Club when one of his three children showed an interest in the sport.

"He would do everything in the world for any of his kids," said Gordon Gay, a lawyer in Falmouth who knew Potter when he was young and taught Potter to water ski at Lake of the Woods. "If they were running, he'd sponsor the race. If they were water skiing, he'd buy the boat. Whatever it took to support his kids, he'd do."

Potter lived in the Lee's Hill subdivision in Spotsylvania. He is survived by his wife, a daughter at the University of Virginia, and a high-school age son and daughter who attend Spotsylvania schools.

Potter, a graduate of Wake Forest University, was returning from a basketball game at his alma mater Wednesday night when the plane crashed. Potter was piloting the plane, which was his own.

Date published: 2/24/2006