Children of O.C. Couple Comforted by Fact That Parents Died Together

Rick and Dotti Foth’s children are not surprised that their parents died together.

Even though they are devastated at losing both parents at the same time, they take comfort imagining them holding hands as their lives ended on the doomed EgyptAir flight.

“They died the way they lived: together,” said their daughter, Linda Durden of Laguna Niguel. “They never wanted to be alone.”

Married 45 years, the Foths, who lived in Dana Point, and their close-knit family enjoyed trips in their motor home to ski resorts and throughout the world. They had three children--Durden, Gary Foth and Rob Foth--and four grandchildren.

Rick and Dotti Foth were on their way to see the pyramids with Art and Barbara Peever of Dana Point, friends they had met 40 years earlier. Durden said the foursome was part of a larger group of friends who had cemented their relationships through high school and college contacts.

Dotti Foth, 67, was a “people person” who loved to spoil her grandchildren and volunteered for numerous community organizations, including Meals on Wheels.

Rick Foth, 69, was a retired structural engineer for the city of Los Angeles.

Each year, the couple rented a ski chalet where their children, and later their grandchildren, would ski, eat and play board games, Durden said.

“The hardest part was keeping up with my parents,” she said.

The Peevers were extended family. For a time, the two families owned a 20-foot catamaran together and regularly raced it. They went on camping trips. The adults enjoyed dinners together and trips, such as one to Paris.

Every year, the Foths went abroad. Rick Foth was especially anxious to see Egypt because he was interested in the architecture of the pyramids.

Dotti Foth told her hairdresser that the flight didn’t trouble her because she would be with her husband. The worst that could happen was that they would perish together, she said.

On Sunday, the children were watching television when they learned that a plane headed to Egypt had plunged into the Atlantic Ocean.

They prayed. They calculated. They thought their parents might not be aboard.

But then the phone rang. It was an airline representative.

Amid their tears, the children realized that this was an opportunity to celebrate their parents’ lives.

“We have such a legacy that they left us,” Durden said. “They were examples of integrity, service and love. They were supportive. They helped with our houses, when we were in a bad spot or if we needed an extra hand at a party. We are a family that plays, works and lives together. I know we will be together again.”