Operations and programs at the Kenosha Ice Rink, 7727 60th Ave., will continue as usual in the wake of arena owner James Jalovec’s death Thursday, manager Steve Eisenhower said Saturday.

Jalovec, who lived in Naples, Fla., died Thursday when his helicopter crashed into a mountain in the western Dominican Republic province of Dajabon. He was on his way back from delivering a group of Wisconsin doctors and medical supplies to Haiti.

He had been in Kenosha a week ago on business.

“He was out of his mind over what was going on in Haiti,” Eisenhower said. “We wanted to do something hands-on about it. He said he didn’t want to just write a check.”

Jalovec owned the R44 II helicopter. Friend John Ward, 43, of Fort Myers, Fla., who was piloting the helicopter, also died in the crash. Jalovec was co-piloting the chopper.

Eisenhower said Jalovec voiced concern about flying 600 miles over the ocean before leaving, but believed he needed to make the trip.

As “hands-on” as Jalovec was in response to the tragedy in Haiti, Eisenhower said Jalovec was not heavily involved in the operations at the ice rink. He visited only once every six months or so to check on the business.

“He let me do whatever I wanted,” Eisenhower said. “He wasn’t in it to make money.”

Jalovec, former owner of Milwaukee-based A&J Cartage Inc., a sewage hauling firm, and a New Berlin landscaping company, purchased the rink from Kenosha County in 2003 for $358,000.

Plans for expanding the complex and adding an indoor soccer arena were scrapped after cost estimates came in too high, but Jalovec maintained his commitment to the rink.

Eisenhower said he has been in contact with the executor of Jalovec’s estate, who informed him to continue as usual.

Jalovec was in the process of selling the rink to a party from Milwaukee when he died. That sale is still expected to go through, and Eisenhower said the buyer plans on continuing to operate the rink.