It is with great sadness we notify our Meyers family that two of our members have Gone West. Phillip “Flip” Colmer and James “Jim” Tafralian got a new set of wings on August 20, 2019. Please keep both men and their families in your thoughts and prayers. Flip and Jim were very involved in the Meyer’s community and will be sorely missed. Below listed is a copy of Flip and Jim’s obituaries.
James “Jim”Tafralian
James passed away at the age of 68 on August 20, 2019.
Beloved and proud father of Michigan State Trooper Frank (fiancé Katherine).
Loving brother of Michael,Diane, Nancy and Karen. Dearson of the late Arthur and the late Gladys.
James will also bemissed by the Tafralian, Karakashian, Mahakian &Melikian families, the SkyDiving
& Aviation Communities and allthat knew him. Visitation Wednesday 5:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. with a 7:30 p.m. Prayer Service at St.Johns Armenian Church, 22001 Northwestern Highway, Southfield.
In state Thursday 10 a.m. until 11:00 a.m. funeral service at church.
In lieu of flower memorial donations to www.skydivingmuseum.org or Fallen Trooper Memorial Fund – which is its own entity within MSTAF dedicated to the upkeep ofthe memorial at the Training Academy (Check can be made to MSTAF-FTM and mailed
to the MSPTA, 1715 AbbeyRoad, Suite B, East Lansing, MI 48823.
Philip “Flip” Colmer
A shining star, a smiling face, a friend to all, and a connoisseur of everything that defines happy life,
Philip “Flip” Colmer, age 64, unexpectedly left this earth for his final flight west on 20 August, 2019. Flip, born 3 May, 1955, grew up to find joy in the pursuit of high adventure. He enjoyed travel, skydiving, and flying the most. An aviator by profession, he was commissioned an Officer in the U.S. Navy in 1978 and earned his Gold Navy Pilot Wings a few years later. He served in the Active ranks and Reserves as a carrier pilot, flying the A-7E Corsair and FA-18C Hornet jets before retiring from the Reserves in 1998 with the rank of Lieutenant Commander. In 1989, after leaving active duty, he joined Northwest Airlines, which became part of Delta in 2008. Over his 30 year airline career, he rose to the rank of Captain on the Boeing 767.
On 26 August, 1994, he married Rebecca Sharp, his best friend, fellow skydiver, and beloved travel companion for the remainder of his life. When not exploring the larger world with his wife, he enjoyed brewing his own beer and even dabbled with competitive aerobatic flying. Outside of flying, he was involved in many charitable projects, his favorite as a key team member of Project Recover expeditions to the Pacific to find and repatriate the remains of missing American servicemen from World War II. Philip “Flip” Colmer is preceded in death by his parents, Malcolm and Marjorie (Fleiss) Colmer.
He is survived by his wife, Rebecca Sharp, his two sisters, Barbara Colmer (Kooper, NY) and Amy Ream (Portland, OR), his sister-in-law, Samara Anjelae (Berea, KY), and his two brothers-in-law, Michael and Lew Sharp (Lexington & Paris, KY).
