Sadly, tragedy struck on April 1, 1949, when Beverly died during childbirth. She was buried here at Stockton Rural Cemetery.  Russell was devastated, and attempting to pick up the pieces of his broken heart, he moved back in with his parents so they could help him raise his two daughters. According to the newspaper, his parents later confirmed that Russell had been "very despondent" since his wife had passed away.

Just shy of four months after the death of his beloved wife, Russell did the unthinkable. He went up to the North Stockton airfield (which after further research I believe was Oranges Airfield once located 1 mile north of Hammer Lane, just east of Lower Sacramento Road), and took off in his father's Cessna airplane. I am sure in the beginning, no one thought anything of it, as he had been seen routinely flying his father's plane before. But that day was different. Russell Higby was distraught and it was a one-way flight, with no plan on returning.

That's when he started making a scene with his flying way too close to buildings in Stockton, buzzing above right at tree level, flying under the telephone wires - ultimately scaring everyone half to death in the process. Hundreds of people were phoning the authorities to let them know, and sure enough this chain of events would prove to make headlines.

According to an interview that Russell's youngest daughter gave to the Record back in 2010, her father did a "berserk power dive at their Orange Street home," with him flying so low to the house that her grandmother (Russell's mother) could "see the beautiful blue of his eyes," as he flew by.

Her grandfather tried to chase him down in his Packard, racing up to the airstrip, trying to flag him down with his arms to tell him to go back to the strip and land. Even Sheriff Carlos Sousa had deputies at the airstrip waiting to arrest him. Russell had other plans, and he swooped down, flying beside his father's car and "tipped his wings goodbye, and then he flew up."

In the final act of love for his soulmate, Russell Higby made two power dives while flying around the cemetery, but on the second dive (which witnesses claimed was a 2,000 foot drop straight down) he flew his father's plane into this spot where his wife was buried inside the grounds of the cemetery, sealing his fate to be eternally reunited with his bride.

The newspapers reported that the wreckage was scattered over a 1,500 foot area, with Russell's body being thrown a good 30 feet from where the plane actually hit. Parts of the plane were even found as far as the roof of the mausoleum, which is located at the entrance of the cemetery grounds.

In the end, Russell Higby ended his life in the spot where he felt his life had truly ended, the place where his beautiful wife had been laid to rest. 

A somewhat similar case happened at Sea-Tac Airport in Washington on August 10, 2018 when 28 year-old Richard Russell, a baggage handler at the airport, stole a Horizon Q400 Turboprop, & having never done much flying, took off & performed various acrobatic moves, scaring civilians & others on the ground not knowing what he was going to do.  F-15 fighter jets were summoned to pursue the stolen plane & Russell was conversing with air traffic control & wasn't planning any harm.  Ultimately after an hour in the air, he steered the plane into the woods on nearby Ketron Island where he crashed & died as a suicide.  Russell was married & left behind a distraught wife - during conversations w/ air-traffic control he stated that he was "Just a broken guy w/ a few screws loose."

From: https://rememberingstocktonhistory.blogspot.com/2020/04/a-tragic-reunion-fatal-flight-of.html