CASSOPOLIS — Standing inside the Pioneer Log Cabin Museum in Cassopolis, former principal of Kincheloe Elementary School Dan Smith opened a bluebook to a yellowing, cut-out page of an old newspaper.

“There,” he said pointing to a black and white photo on the page. “That’s Iven Kincheloe not long before his death. … It was a tragedy. He was a great pilot.”

Kincheloe was an American fighter pilot, test pilot, aeronautical engineer and a flying ace in the Korean War. From Cassopolis, the famous pilot attended high school in Dowagiac, where the city later named Kincheloe Elementary School in his honor. Kincheloe died in 1958 in a flight accident.

Smith recently donated a number of items relating to Kincheloe to the Pioneer Log Cabin Museum. Among the items donated were a number of newspaper articles relating to Kincheloe, framed magazine articles and the flag from the Iven Kincheloe Memorial in Cassopolis.

“I thought the museum would want to preserve these things somehow. To me, this needs to be saved for posterity,” Smith said. “Kincheloe made such amazing contributions to flight travel and to Cass County. He made huge contributions to America’s aviation and space efforts.”

Ginger Luxenberger, who is on the board of the Pioneer Log Cabin Museum, said the museum is grateful for the donations, as she looked through the articles donated about Kincheloe.

“Oh, we are so lucky to have these things,” she said. “This is such a generous donation. This is just wonderful.”

Smith’s interest in Kincheloe is long-standing, with Smith saying that he has always admired the pilot and followed his history.

At one point in his time as educator, Smith even got his students involved in his admiration for Kincheloe as he challenged them to write and illustrate a biography of Kincheloe. Not only did Smith student’s complete the challenge, they got their book into earth’s orbit.

“I don’t know why I said this, but I told them, ‘if you write it, I’ll get your book into outer space,’” Smith recalled.

Smith was able to make good on his promise by working with legislators and NASA to have astronauts take a CD-ROM copy of the book, titled “Kincheloe’s Dream,” into space.

“That is one of the more fun stories of my career,” Smith said.

Through his recent donation, Smith said he hopes the memory of Kincheloe can be carried on in Cass County — and hopefully to a new generation.

“These things need to be here, in Cassopolis, where [Kincheloe] is from,” he said. “This is history worth remembering. I hope kids will come here, see these items and articles, and learn about Kincheloe. … I hope they will see, like I do, someone out of Cassopolis that did great things.”