Restaurant Family Loses `Dynamic' Man

Expansion of the family-owned and operated Cave Man Kitchens smoked-food business will move ahead despite the death of the man "who would take wild ideas and make them work."

Co-owner Richard Donley Jr. "is irreplaceable, but we will carry on because he was so dynamic," his sister Laura Steele said last night.

Mr. Donley, 45, a pilot for 15 years, was killed when his four-seat Rockwell Aero Commander crashed into the Columbia River about 10 miles northeast of the Colville Municipal Airport about 2:30 p.m. Monday.

Also killed were two passengers, Daniel Schoonover of the Evans area of northern Stevens County, and Michael Lynn Wooster, 41, of Colville. The National Transportation Safety Board is investigating the crash.

Witnesses said the airplane flew low over a stand of trees toward the water, said Jeff Guzzetti, a NTSB investigator. The plane then made a turn and one of the wings hit the water, ripping the wing off and causing the craft to rip apart and then sink, Guzzetti said.

The bodies were recovered from the wreckage some 200 feet offshore by Stevens County sheriff's divers in 40 feet of water just north of the Highway 395 bridge.

"They don't know what happened," Steele said. "Richard was an excellent pilot and loved to fly. He flew back and forth all the time, and he was back there (Colville) for the holidays with his wife and children."

Cave Man Kitchens, a restaurant and catering business, was founded in 1971 by their late father, Richard Donley Sr., and operates in Kent and Lake City. Richard Donley Jr. and his five brothers and sisters had operated the business in the tradition established by their father.

Restaurant critics lauded Cave Man Kitchens as it built a culinary following that included the Chicago White Sox baseball team and chef Julia Child.

Mr. Donley lived in the Colville area as well as Kent.

Mr. Donley also is survived by his wife, Renee, daughter Christina, 8, and sons David, 6, and Sean, 3. Funeral arrangements are pending.