When the Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region was seeking a CEO to replace Teri McNally, the process took five months.
The board interviewed 20 promising candidates, but one applicant, Zach Hatcher, kept coming to the forefront.
“He rose to the top in every single category,” McNally said.
Hatcher was supposed to begin his tenure with the Community Foundation on Aug. 5. Instead, his loved ones are left to mourn him and his partner, Chris Kucera, a couple that McNally had known for the past 20 years.
Hatcher, 43, and Kucera, 46, were killed Monday night in a single-engine airplane crash at Long Island MacArthur Airport in Islip, New York. They were the only two onboard.
“Zach and Chris were fun people to be around,” McNally said. “I was telling someone today that both made you feel like they were your best friends. Everybody is saying, ‘He was my best friend.’”
Zach Hatcher was selected in June to become the next CEO of the Community Foundation of the Rappahannock River Region.
A relative confirmed to the Free Press that Kucera was the pilot of the single engine Beechcraft Bonanza A36 that crashed near the end of the runway at the airport around 6:15 p.m. Hatcher was his passenger.
A witness said Kucera carried out all the necessary preflight checks and the plane was several hundred feet in the air when it banked sharply and appeared to be returning to the runway.
“Chris died doing what he loved most and with the man he loved most. We are grateful for that,” said his brother, Mike Kucera. “Considering the loss of power so soon after takeoff, Chris is a hero for avoiding casualties on the ground.”
The couple was visiting a friend in the Long Island area and returning back to Virginia when the plane crashed. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are leading the investigation.
Kucera, an air and space engineer, was an experienced pilot, who developed all the necessary skills for a license before he was 17 years old, said his brother, who lives in Richmond.
“We’re devastated,” Mike Kucera said. “Chris loved that plane, and he loved Zach.”
Hatcher and Kucera were well-known in the Fredericksburg area community. They had a passion for home renovations and recently restored a historic farmhouse at White Plains in King George County. The couple was set to begin work on a home on Washington Avenue in Fredericksburg.
Fredericksburg City Councilor Will Mackintosh said he and his husband were close friends with the couple for many years. He said they were both loving and loyal.
“They were a lot of fun, always on the go,” Mackintosh said. “They were masters of the impromptu dinner party. We’d get a call on a Saturday, and they’d invite us to White Plains for dinner, and when we’d arrive, there would be a dozen people there. The whole thing was thrown together, but you would never have known by how great they were at bringing people together.”
Chris Kucera was an experienced pilot, his brother said.
Hatcher was tapped in June to become the CEO of the Community Foundation after many years as senior director of development for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. Hatcher previously worked at the University of Mary Washington and Fredericksburg Area Health and Support Services (FAHASS). He also hosted a podcast called Art Snap with local art teacher Claire Ellinger.
“Not only myself, but the entire staff and board were very excited about the promises he could bring to our community and to the Community Foundation,” McNally said. “He was just a wonderful human being and a fantastic friend. I will miss him very much.”
McNally said Hatcher impressed the board of the Community Foundation because he was a visionary who knew how to implement ideas, as well. She said he was a force for good in the community.
“He really was an incredibly strategic and thoughtful leader, and our entire staff is devastated by this,” McNally said. “They were looking forward to having Zach and seeing what the next 20 years were going to bring to the foundation. He really was just the ideal candidate for the position.”
The Community Foundation released a statement Monday announcing the deaths of Hatcher and Kucera “with deep sadness and heavy hearts.” The statement expressed shock at the loss of “beloved” and “integral” members of the community who left an “indelible” mark on the region.
“Our thoughts and deepest sympathies are with their families and friends during this incredibly difficult time,” the statement read.
Hatcher was also the executive director of FAHASS for several years. Current executive director Joseph Lyttle said he allowed some members of the staff to leave work Tuesday morning because they were so distraught.
Lyttle said although he did not work with Hatcher at FAHASS, he knew him from serving in the community and recently spent time with him at a Fredericksburg Nationals game celebrating Pride Month.
“He was super friendly,’ Lyttle said. “Everyone liked him. I think that’s why everyone is taking this so personal, because in a real sense, people lost not only someone who cared and worked in the community, but somebody they considered a long-term friend.”
Lyttle said Kucera had the ability to make others laugh. McNally said he had an infectious personality.
“He was one of the most engaging, lovable and brilliant men that I ever had the pleasure to be a friend to,” she said. “They will both be greatly missed.”
