Lompoc Skydiving Instructor Remembered
Memorials, tributes and fundraisers are planned for a popular former local skydiving instructor who died last week in a plane crash.
Robin Ballachey was killed when the plane she was riding in crashed off the coast of Puerto Vallarta in Mexico.
Ballachey spent a couple of years working at Skydive Santa Barbara at the Lompoc Airport where she was a popular instructor, tandem-diver and fellow thrill-seeker.
“She had a light about her, she was always smiling”, says Drucilla Pomo who worked with Ballachey at Skydive Santa Barbara, “everytime I watched her videos it was just a big huge grin.”
Pomo say Ballachey has a unique ability to put people’s minds at ease and get them excited about jumping out of plane for a life-changing event.
“She would be the person that would be like, hey Robin maybe you can convince these guys to jump but she would be like oh yeah I’m on it!”, Poma says, “just be so lively about the experience and her experiences and share her experiences just to be able to get people to go.”
Ballachey is also remembered and dearly missed at the Village Office Bar in Vandenberg Village where she worked as a bartender.
“I was actually her first tandem skydive that she did when she got her license”, says bartender Jessica Masterson about her former co-worker.
The Village Office bar is hosting a fundraising event on Saturday for Ballachey’s surviving family members.
Masterson says Ballachey was able to convince her bar patrons to join her in taking the leap of a lifetime.
“She had quite a few regulars that went with her and did it”, Masterson says, “she just had this energy and passion for it that it was hard to say no to her.”
Robin Ballachey moved back to her home at Lake Tahoe before going down to Mexico for her latest and final skydiving gig.
“Teacher, motivator, all around wonderful lady, go-get-em spirit and really wonderful to be around”, Drucilla Poma says.
Poma says they are planning a memorial skydive and tribute to Ballachey at Skydive Santa Barbara on Sunday.
