Procession Planned for Tom Duffy Today

UPDATE: The procession is now expected to leave the airport after 3 p.m.

Bozeman resident Tom Duffy, who was killed Monday piloting a helicopter while fighting a wildfire in Oregon, will arrive at Bozeman Yellowstone International Airport today. He is expected to arrive between 2 - 2:30 p.m.

The procession with his body and members of his family will begin at the Central Helicopter hanger before proceeding to Airport Road to the Frontage Road. It will then make its way down the Frontage Road to N. 7th, entering I-90 eastbound off of 7th to get to East Main Street. After entering Main, the procession will head to Highland Blvd. to Dahl Funeral Home.

The public is encouraged to line the route to pay their respects.

Tom Duffy, who in addition to being a local pilot was also the owner of Bozeman Hot Springs, was killed Monday in a helicopter crash while fighting the White River Fire in Oregon. When the crash occurred, he was dropping buckets of water on the wildfire burning in rough terrain in the Mount Hood National Forest.

Duffy is survived by his wife, Robyn, and three children. He was a former Montana State University basketball player and a lay leader for the Seventh-Day Adventist Church of Montana. He worked for a private company contracted through the U.S. Forest Service out of Bozeman. He flew a Type 1 K-Max helicopter.