The Fayetteville residents had gone to Bolivia, where Lotti had done volunteer work with the Peace Corps until his two-year stint ended in July. Lotti wanted to show his mother the village where he built water-sanitation facilities and he made many friends, said Paul Brockington, president of Brockington and Associates, where Lotti worked before joining the Peace Corps.
Bolivia RPCV Steve Lotti killed in plane crash in Peru
Business mourning employee
08/25/2005
Former county resident killed in Peru plane crash
By Bryan Brooks
Staff Writer
bryan.brooks@gwinnettdailypost.com
LAWRENCEVILLE - A plane crash in Peru on Wednesday claimed the life of a former Duluth resident and his mother as they returned from a village where he previously had worked with the Peace Corps.
Steve Lotti, who worked as an archeologist with a Norcross consulting firm, was remembered by his brother as a good Samaritan.
"Steve to me was like an angel on this earth, and he was all about doing good works for other people," said Norcross resident Joe Lotti. "The world is a darker place without him."
Lotti and his mother, Sherra Young, were aboard a Peruvian airliner that crash-landed Wednesday in the Amazon jungle during a storm. At least 37 of the 98 passengers were killed.
The Fayetteville residents had gone to Bolivia, where Lotti had done volunteer work with the Peace Corps until his two-year stint ended in July.
Lotti wanted to show his mother the village where he built water-sanitation facilities and he made many friends, said Paul Brockington, president of Brockington and Associates, where Lotti worked before joining the Peace Corps.
"He was so excited about Bolivia that he took his mother on this trip to meet the people in the village where he worked," Brockington said.
"We don’t know the details yet, but I think they got to see the village. All the people there loved him."
Lotti, who graduated from the University of Georgia, worked across the Southeast as a field archeologist excavating and cataloging historical sites, said Brockington, who remembered Lotti as unassuming.
"He was everybody’s friend," Brockington said. "I think he was committed to doing good for other people."
Lotti worked for the 19-year-old firm off Peachtree Industrial Boulevard until joining the Peace Corps in July 2003. During return visits to Georgia, he would work at archeological sites, Brockington said.
"We were so looking forward to him coming back and being here all the time," he said. "It’s hard to believe.
"Every tragedy like this, I think it’s hard to take in and accept."
Joe Lotti said he and his brother grew up in Fayetteville, and Steve Lotti lived for a period in Duluth. He was planning on moving back to Athens, he said.
