HAWTHORNE, N.Y. - Richard Lomas and Gregory Doppke, principals of ABM Air Conditioning & Heating Inc., died April 4 in a plane crash on the eastern shore of Maryland. Their small plane went down during severe thunderstorms.

According to a report in theDelmarva Daily News, the partners were flying to Pinehurst, N.C., for a golf outing. The plane went down near the Choptank River, south of Trappe, Md. A close friend, Andrew Young, 51, Mahopac, N.Y., also perished in the crash.

Mr. Doppke, 62, of Greenwich, Conn., was a flying enthusiast. He and Mr. Lomas, 58, of Stamford, Conn., one of the three principals at ABM, had been in business with Doppke for more than 20 years. Both were members of the Hudson Valley Plumbing and Mechanical Contractors Association (PMCA), and were involved in the Mechanical Contractors Association of America (MCAA) and Sheet Metal and Air Conditioning Contractors’ National Association (SMACNA).

For more information, contact Patricia Ploeger at the Hudson Valley PMCA: 914-762-1016; pep@pmcahudsonvalley.org.

Publication date:05/07/2007