An Arizona couplewho were each other’s “adventure partners” in life aretwo of the 34 people presumed deadafter a commercial diving boat fire broke out early Monday morning on a Labor Day weekend excursion.
Neal Baltz and his girlfriend Patricia Beitzinger, who lived in Phoenix, both loved the outdoors and taking trips together, Michael Pierce, the viticulture and enology director at Yavapai College, tells PEOPLE.
Baltz, an engineer, studied winemaking and was supposed to be back at class on Tuesday night to present about wines he had recently discovered in Washington state.
“He had plans to stay with some of his friends after class, and they didn’t hear from him,” says Pierce. “That friend texted me, and we saw the news article. That’s how we found out.”
Flicker
“He wanted to follow his passion,” he added. “It’s hard work, and it’s basically farming. We spend a lot of hours together, and it’s outside in the sun.”
“He always made sure that if we had tough days, it was a positive atmosphere. He was always goofing around about something.”
The Southwest Wine Center
And the person who loved those jokes was Beitzinger, “who was always laughing” at something Baltz was doing.
Neal Baltz and Patricia Beitzinger.Flicker
Conception on fire.AP/Shutterstock
“They were a loving couple,” says Pierce. “Patricia was usually smiling. They were a terrific couple to be around.”
After he finished taking Pierce’s classes in the first part of the program, Baltz funded a scholarship for other students, which exists today under this name.
“It was meaningful enough for him that he wanted it to be meaningful for others and pass it forward,” says Pierce.
As of Wednesday afternoon, search teams recovered 33 bodies in the aftermath of the fire, which occurred off of Santa Cruz Island, California. One person is still missing, and authorities have yet to identify the victims.
Neal Baltz.The Southwest Wine Center
Truth Aquatics, which owns the Conception, has not commented.
source: people.com
