I often think about many of H. J. High’s past projects and how we acquired them – over the years there have been some rather unusual circumstances surrounding certain project awards.

One project that comes to light is the Titusville Astronaut High School we constructed in 1989 for the School Board of Brevard County. We were a small company at that time with only three employees – our vice president and estimator Paul Gips, a bookkeeper and myself. The new high school was designed by Lemmon and Megginson, Architects from Titusville, Florida. The project was delivered as a hard dollar bid project as most projects were back in those days, long before design-build and construction management were commonplace in the market.

We bid the job at the usual 2:00 p.m. school board deadline and were the apparent low bidder. Hard to imagine with today’s prices but the bid for this 100,000 sf building was an astounding $4 million (yes, $40/sf). We were happy to be low and looked forward to beginning work because we really needed the job.

Well, it turned out not to be. Our price was over the budget, so the school board rejected all bids and told the architect he had to redesign the project to bring it into budget. We assembled our plans and sent them back to the architect to collect our deposit, not knowing when it would rebid.

Thirty days went by and we heard nothing. One morning while I was on another job I received a call from the architect. He said they were meeting with the school board that afternoon and would award the job to us if we would guarantee the same price and still meet the original completion schedule. We thought it was difficult to build without already losing the thirty days.

We said what any enterprising general contractor says, “Sure we can do it!” We don’t say anything about not having a superintendent to put on the job or that the contract time would start from the award that day. What a fix!

Luckily several days later we interviewed Alfred ‘Fritz’ Myrtle and hired him for the job. What a blessing. We built the new high school and completed it on time. Fritz was a tremendously skilled superintendent and ended up being with H. J. High for over 15 years. Abe Collingsworth was the principal of the school and had a son Chris who later played ball at UF. Chris is now a well known football announcer for network television.

It’s funny how things work out – we thought we would have to rebid the job not knowing if we would be low the second time around, as one usually is not. We were lucky and blessed to be able to complete the school on time and have such capable employees to help us in the process.

While our economy has been grounded, H. J. High Chairman, Steve High has been flying high for those in need for more than 20 years. Steve has been an integral part of Angel Flight Southeast, a 501(c)(3) organization of volunteer pilots who utilize their own aircraft, fuel and time to provide free air transportation to medical facilities for families that are financially distressed or otherwise unable to travel on public transportation. 

This journey with Angel Flight began after Steve’s own medical scare in the early 1990’s. While recovering from surgery, Steve found an article that mentioned air ambulance operations and Angel Flight Southeast. As a pilot for over 40 years, he realized he could help the organization. “I feel that God has given me the ability to own an airplane and have a company that supports my flying. He was gracious enough to allow me to live, so I feel I ought to do something in return.” As soon as Steve was fully recovered he signed up for his first flight and the rest is history.

There have been hundreds of missions over the years and each one holds a special significance. In Steve’s own words, “There have been many memorable flights. The ones I remember most are flown with young children. Seeing them in a helpless state, depending on medical miracles to keep them alive and the trials they have to endure is pretty rough. Thank God for all those who participate in Angel Flight.” 

Steve now flies an average of 25 Angel Flight missions a year and in 2010 was ranked 3^rd in the Southeast for the most legs flown with 28. This selfless giving helped to inspire H. J. High’s charity initiative that was started in 2008.

To learn more about Angel Flight Southeast or to donate to this worthy cause, please visit their website as www.angelflightse.org

I don’t remember the year but it was at Thanksgiving and probably in the late 1990′s. I was part of a 6 plane mission to go to Opa-locka Executive Airport and fly children who were burn victims to Disney for the long weekend.  All the planes arrived on time and we were awaiting arrival of the children.  They showed up in a van accompanied by a nurse or social worker who was going along and I will never forget the sight I saw.  Most had their bodies completely wrapped and a number of them had their heads wrapped and the only thing you could see was their eyes.  What you saw was fright and shock from the ordeal they had been through, but they were going to Disney.

The flight was uneventful and we delivered the children and workers on time.  I was not part of the trip back but I did find out they had a wonderful time.  Thank God for all those who participate in Angel Flight.

Recently I flew Charles Miller who is legally blind from North Palm Beach County airport home to Gainesville. When I met Charles he explained that he was almost totally blind and had been at the VA hospital for 2 weeks learning to operate a GPS that would allow him to navigate. At age 30 doctors told him he would slowly lose his eyesight and now at the age of 54, is almost blind. I asked him if he had family and he said he had legal custody of his 12 year old son and he was anxious to get home to be with him.

He had a great attitude and was extremely appreciative that he was introduced to Angel Flight to be able to make these trips. He was able to get in and out of our plane better than many of the passengers I have carried whose eyesight was perfect.  One interesting note is he showed me a phone that he can take a picture of a person in front of him and it will verbally tell him the color of the person’s shirt. There are some real amazing things out there!

I bid him farewell and told him God had a plan for his life and he agreed. It was good to be with someone in this condition who was okay.

This construction company executive finds satisfaction in being a link between patients around the state and access to specialized healthcare resources.

It was while he was recuperating from a surgery of his own that Orlando’s Steven High, Chairman of H. J. High Construction Company, learned about Angel Flight Southeast and decided that he wanted to become a part of the organization’s work. That was in 1991 — 15 years later he’s still flying Angel Flight missions.

“I had an unexpected serious operation. While I was recuperating, I read an article about Angel Flight,” he says. He realized, as people often do when they have survived a major illness or surgery, that he not only had much to be grateful, but also that he had the resources to become an Angel Flight pilot. “I looked into it, signed up, started doing flights and haven’t stopped since,” he says.

High’s father, who founded H.J. High Construction, was a pilot. After completing his military service in the United States Army in 1967 and returning home to central Florida, the younger High took an introductory lesson that eventually led to his acquiring instrument ratings and flight instructor, ATP.

High says that many of the patients he transports fall into two categories: children with serious or rare diseases and illnesses and patients, of all ages, traveling to receive an organ transplant. One of his most memorable Angel Flights was being part of a group of six or seven planes traveling from Opa Locka to take young burn patients to Disney World for the weekend. He frequently transports children to the University of Florida’s Shands Hospital in Gainesville for experimental treatments or to Miami for specialized cancer and eye care.

He often transports transplant patients.

“I may get a call at 1 a.m. if a patient needs to be in Miami, for example, in three hours to receive the transplant. These patients are coming out to an airport where they have most likely never been to meet a pilot they don’t know, and they’re nervous and scared to death of the operation they’re going to have – and they’ve never been in a small airplane before!” Reassuring them – at least about their flight – is part of what High sees as part of his mission. “By the time we get to Miami, they are usually more relaxed, and they are very appreciative.”

Depending upon patients’ needs and weather conditions, the number of flights that High flies varies. “I may fly two or three a month, or I may go a month without a flight because my flights have gotten canceled for some reason,” he says.

Although he doesn’t get a chance to become acquainted with many of his fellow Angel Flight pilots, High says that he is struck by the generosity of those who choose to fly Angel Flight patients. “A few weeks ago, I relayed with a pilot in Fayetteville, North Carolina. I had tried to find him on Flight Tracker to make certain we were coordinated, but he wasn’t on it. It turns out that he had had to rent a plane to fulfill his mission. He rented a plane and transported the patient to New Jersey.”

High is now the owner of his second Bonanza A36. “I’ve had an A36 for about 20 years,” he says. “I had a Travel Air before that, and it had no air conditioning, so I decided to get out of the flying business or get an air conditioner with wings!” With its cabin seating for six people and its large cargo doors, it is ideal for Angel Flights, he says. “It is spacious, and it has a good range.” The A36 is well-equipped for the instrument flying that High does for his company around the state of Florida. “Our business is in the state of Florida. Anywhere I travel from Orlando is not much over an hour.”

High is the second generation to operate the family-owned construction company. “We build a lot of churches,” he says, “which now accounts for about half of our construction volume.” His son, Robert, joined the company six years ago. His daughter, Sally, is also currently working with the company. High and his wife, Lynn, have been married for 34 years. He enjoys golf and exercising. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of Overseers for the Crummer School of Business at Rollins College.

“There is a great satisfaction that pilots get from knowing that they have participated in something that makes such a dramatic difference in people’s lives, providing them with assistance when they were not able to get somewhere on their own for treatment, or when they are so critically ill that they can’t get there by other means,” he says. “It’s my ministry; it’s not about what you get in return. You’re helping save people’s lives.”

Angel Flight Southeast is an IRS 501(c)(3) organization of more than 850 volunteer pilots who utilize their own aircraft, fuel and time to provide free air transportation to medical facilities for citizens who are financially distressed or otherwise unable to travel on public transportation. AFSE also coordinates missions to fly organ transplant candidates, people involved in clinical trials, chemotherapy or other repetitive treatment, victims of abuse seeking relocation, families receiving help from Ronald McDonald Houses, Shriners Hospitals and many other charities, disabled or sick children to special summer camp programs, and for many other humanitarian reasons.