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Show Delta Airlines victim lived in Park City by RICK B ROUGH Record staff writer One of the victims in last week's Delta Airlines Flight 191 crash was a frequent resident and visitor to Park City. Marc Guterma, who died in the crash August 2 at the Dallas-Fort Worth airport, had stayed off and on in Park City for several years, according to his friend, Paul Davin. His death attracted some attention in the national press because he was the only survivor of a 1977 plane crash that killed most of his family. "Can you imagine what must have gone througn nis mind at ine end.'' said Davin, a Park City resident. Guterma, in his early 20s, was listed as a resident of Mesa, Colo. Davin said he had formed a close friendship with Guterma after meeting him about four months ago. He remembered Guterma as a "nice guy" and aspiring musician who lived life pnthusiastically and sometimes on impulse. He was a wealthy person who often bought motorcycles, musical musi-cal instruments and recording equipment, but his last Utah residence was a Salt Lake storage unit, where1 he lived with his collected belongings. He valued the seclusion, said uavin. According to an Associated Press story, Guterma and six members of his family flew to new York in 1977 aboard a Mitsubishi turbo-prop. The plane crashed near LaGuardia Airport in light rain and heavy fog, killing his father, mother and four brothers and sisters. Guterma, then 14, was not told for days by doctors that he was the only survivor. He suffered a broken arm, leg, neck and shoulder. Davin recalled that, according to Guterma, it was his stepfather step-father who died. His natural father lives in Grand Junction, Colo., Davin said. Another survivor, said AP, was his older brother Bob, who was not aboard the 1977 flight. Davin said he last heard from Guterma on July 28, when he phoned to say he was going to visit his grandfather in Michigan and then pick up his 1977 customized Buick in Florida. Guterma intended to drive back to Utah. "A couple hundred miles out of Boca Raton (Fla.), his car died," said Davin. He managed to get back to the city and boarded the ill-fated Delta Flight 191. He played the piano and the synthesizer, wrote his own music, and wanted to be a professional musician. "He would jump on the piano in the lobby of the Holiday Inn and play for a half-hour. People would look at him, with his earring and the diamond in his tooth," he said. Guterma lived on money inherited from his mother, Davin said, but his surroundings were not always affluent. Once, he lived in an abandoned theater in Magna which subsequently bumed down, destroying $20,000 worth of his musical equipment. At the time of his death, Davin said, he lived in a Salt Lake storage area. "He rented three units and lived in one. He wanted a place that was secluded enough for him to play his music that, . plus" the security.'"1 , f Guterma was a strong athlete with a love for bull terriers, (he even had one tattooed on his arm, said Davin. ) He was an independent indepen-dent person. "He liked something some-thing or he didn't. He wanted to do something or he didn't." "I still expect to see him come bouncing in here," said Davin from his living room on Daly Avenue. "Goddamn, lightning does strike twice." |