By Brian Anderson
Valley Times

Feb. 3, 2000

John Cuthbertson of Danville never knew Rodrigo and Naomi Laigo of Fairfield, but their love of golf took all three to Puerto Vallarta last week -- sunny vacations that ended in tragedy.

On Wednesday, friends and relatives remembered Cuthbertson, the Laigos and Cmdr. William Tansky of Alameda, four Bay Area victims of Alaska Airlines Flight 261.

Cuthbertson, 70, was a fair-to-middling golfer with a passion for the game that was seldom overshadowed, except when he talked politics, friends said Wednesday.

His son, Steve Cuthbertson of Discovery Bay, last saw his father on Jan. 22, Steve's birthday.

"We had a great time," Cuthbertson said. "We always had a great time together."

He and his girlfriend, Michelle Guisto, had a bad feeling when they heard on the news that a plane from Puerto Vallarta and bound for San Francisco had crashed into the Pacific Ocean.

"That's how we found out -- we knew it was his plane," Guisto said. "We were praying that maybe he took a later flight."

Like Cuthbertson, the Laigos also loved the links and jetted off to balmy Puerto Vallarta last weekend to feed their fancy, a relative said.

There were other similarities between the Laigos and Cuthbertson. All three were immigrants -- Cuthbertson from Scotland, the Laigos from the Philippines. Naomi Laigo, 53, was a nurse. Cuthbertson's wife, Anita, is a nurse.

On Monday, Cuthbertson and Rodrigo, 54, and Naomi Laigo boarded their Alaska Airlines jet, co-piloted by Tansky, and soared into the sky over Puerto Vallarta International Airport headed for home. They were among 88 people killed in the crash.

At Christy's Donuts in Danville, Cuthbertson was a regular who will be sorely missed by the breakfast gang.

"He was always smiling, always happy," said neighbor and fellow golf hack Kathy Siegel of Danville, who stopped by Christy's where Cuthbertson used to chew the fat with friends over plain doughnuts. "He was just a very nice guy."

For the better part of 13 years, Cuthbertson whiled away the morning hours at Christy's, talking and sipping black coffee from his mug emblazoned with the motto "Will golf for food."

Since selling his Silicon Valley plumbing business about 10 years ago, Cuthbertson had more time for jawing over java and more time for golf.

"They talked about golf all the time," said Christy's owner Ky Peng Phuon. "Since he retired, he was really enjoying his life."

Occasionally, Cuthbertson would show up at the shop with his 3-year-old granddaughter in tow, said Laura Hinton, who worked at the barbershop next door.

Hinton said Cuthbertson looked younger than he was and cruised the town in a silver Corvette when he wasn't doting over his manicured lawn or puttering around in the garden.

The Laigos also enjoyed the outdoors.

They were a fun couple who liked taking camping trips with their three grown sons, Ray, Randy and Reggie Laigo, said Rodrigo's second cousin Solomon Laigo of Danville.

They were avid travelers and had been to Hawaii and Phoenix to golf.

They moved from Los Angeles to the Bay Area a few years ago, said Solomon Laigo, adding that the couple recently built a house in Fairfield.

Tansky, 57, was remembered by his neighbor and walking buddy, Albert Wong of Alameda. Wong remembered driving Tansky to Oakland International Airport on Saturday morning so the pilot could catch a flight to Los Angeles, where he is based.

Tansky and Wong, a retired computer programmer, got together in the mornings to trade stocks online, then go for walks in the afternoon. Tansky was home about four days a week and approaching the airline's retirement age of 60.

"I was just waiting for him to retire," said Wong, who along with Tansky and Tansky's wife, Bonnie, live where houses are connected by lagoons and trails. "The whole neighborhood is pretty sad, at least our street, anyway."