Christa Ostler hasn’t given up hope that her husband, Gary, will be found alive after his plane crashed in the frigid ocean near Juneau, Alaska, on July 13. But after three weeks, she admits it is time for closure.

“We’re not opposed to another miracle, but we are prepared to memorialize him,” she said, referring to memorial services planned for today in American Fork. Similar services are planned Monday in Highland for his son, Christopher, who was also lost in the crash.

Gary Ostler was an experienced pilot, flying family members to Alaska to do some fishing. But as Ostler descended his twin-engine Cessna for a landing at Gustavus Airport near Glacier Bay National Park, the plane ran out of gas.

Ostler told the other five passengers to prepare for a crash landing as he attempted to bring the plane down gently in the water. As the plane impacted the ocean, all the passengers lost consciousness, but one never came to.

Christa Ostler said the first miracle was that two of the six people in the plane made it out alive. Gary’s sons-in-law, Khyl Shumway and Ben Gunn, swam the one-and-a-half hours to shore. They were later picked up by a passing boat.

But Christa’s brothers, Adam and Gordie Moses, didn’t make it.

Gordie remained unconscious after the crash, while Adam attempted to save him. They are thought to have gone down with the sinking plane.

Gary’s son, Chris, didn’t make it either. Gary rescued him from the plane, but headed back to the cockpit to save the boys inside.

“It’s a story of courage and heroes. These people are where they’re supposed to be. Two made it, and four didn’t,” said Gordie’s and Adam’s father, Gordon Moses. “As far as I’m concerned, Gary did everything he could to save them.”

Christa Ostler says Chris Ostler “was an animated, fun guy.”

“He was your typical comic-book loving, video-game playing kid,” she said. “And just as sweet as can be.”

Gary Ostler will be remembered for his devotion to family and kindness to others.

Chalon Jones was Ostler’s secretary at Ostler International, the auto parts company he owned. She had just returned to work from maternity leave when she remembers talking to Ostler for the last time.

“He called me the second day I was back and congratulated me on my baby,” Jones said. “Then he told me he wouldn’t see me for a while, that he was going to Alaska.”

Last weekend Christa Ostler went to the crash site with family members to hold a memorial service.

“We spent two hours on the water. We also went to the spot where they found Khyl and Ben and laid flowers there,” Christa Ostler said. “But we’re hoping for another miracle that we’ll eventually have someone to bury. I would be grateful for that.”

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page C3.