Colleagues, Family Reel at Death of Popular Panorama City Doctor

Physician William Lofton was remembered Wednesday as a towering, once-menacing linebacker who delivered babies with a tender touch at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in Panorama City.

Lofton, 50, of Sherman Oaks, was killed Tuesday when his single-engine airplane smashed into an unoccupied home near Fullerton Municipal Airport in Orange County and exploded. No one on the ground was injured.

The Orange County sheriff-coroner’s office confirmed Wedesday that the body found inside the plane was Lofton’s. National Transportation Safety Board officials combed through the wreckage, searching for clues to the cause of the accident.

Grieving colleagues said the 6-foot-4 Lofton liked to give bear hugs to colleagues and patients.

“He was a big man who looked so imposing,” said Virginia Ambrosini, the HMO’s medical director for the San Fernando Valley. “Yet he was so gentle with the babies he delivered.”

A flag flew at half-staff outside the medical center Wednesday, and throughout the day flowers were delivered to Lofton’s office door, said hospital engineer Joan Gonzalez. Lofton had delivered three of Gonzalez’s grandchildren.

She didn’t know of the doctor’s death until she arrived at the hospital for work.

“I’ve had a hard time getting through the day,” she said. “He was a big man with a big heart.”

To assist hospital employees, a chaplain and team of grief counselors made the rounds. “There have been a lot of hugs and talking with one another,” said Eugene Roy, the chaplain.

“We want him back like crazy, but knowing he won’t [be back] makes it rough,” said Roy. “It’s a difficult loss for everyone at the hospital.”

Roy said that by midafternoon he had spoken to almost 70 staff members, some of whom gathered in a conference room to share their feelings.

Lofton left behind his wife, Beverly, and their 11-year-old daughter.

“I’m surviving and I’m transitioning into the next life,” Beverly Lofton said, speaking from her home, where family members had gathered. “It’s going to be very difficult, and I’m doing the best I can do right now. It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

Born in Washington, D.C., Lofton went to Colgate University, where he played linebacker for two years on the football team, said Dr. Nabeel Atalla, a colleague at the hospital.

Lofton graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1975. He began working for Kaiser in 1984.

In 1985, he purchased the B36TC Beechcraft in which he perished, according to Federal Aviation Administration records.

Lofton enjoyed Las Vegas, said his cousin, Drew Hyde, who resides in that city. The doctor also on occasion offered flights to friends who needed to travel to another city on short notice.

Lofton’s passion for flying was equaled by his love for athletics, friends said. Known to fly to cities with plush golf courses, he also was an avid skier and recently erected a basketball hoop in front of his Sherman Oaks home.

Beverly Lofton said a memorial service is tentatively planned for next Wednesday in Encino.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Path of Ill-Fated Flight

A pilot was killed Tuesday when his plane clipped a power line and crashed into a Fullerton home.