A teacher. A diver. A skillful teen. Remembering Wichita family members killed in crash

Arlo Eichbauer was growing up to be more and more like his father, Britton — they were two peas in a unique pod.

Cousin and nephew, Silas Eichbauer, was coming into his own as a teen, and had a unique taste in music. His mother jokes that all pictures of him look the same since the 16-year-old often wore the same Nirvana hoodie.

The three died in a June 11 wreck just miles from making it home to Wichita after a trip that included scuba diving in Florida, dining in New Orleans and floating on kayaks on the water in Tennessee.

The driver of a pickup truck went into oncoming traffic and hit Britton Eichbauer head-on. The three died at the scene. Eichbauer’s dog, Susan, survived the wreck.

Three people in the other vehicle were taken to the hospital. They are expected to survive. The Butler County Sheriff’s Office said alcohol is suspected to be a factor in the crash. They have not released additional details about the people in the vehicle.

Who were Britton, Arlo and Silas Eichbauer?

Eliot Eichbauer, who went by his middle name Britton, was 46. He taught social studies at Curtis Middle School and had been with USD 259 for 19 years. He was handy and loved off-grid adventures.

Arlo Whitman Eichbauer, a 2024 graduate from Goddard High School, went to Florida in hopes of landing an internship that would help him to become a master diver. He devoured books and wanted to be an Egyptologist. He was 19.

Silas James Eichbauer was enjoying the summer before his junior year at Wichita North High School. He was 16, crafty, and made gifts for family members that required skill beyond most children his age.

A joint memorial service was planned for the three at 10 a.m. Saturday, June 21 at Central Community Church, 6100 W. Maple.

The three of them have been cremated.

Arlo’s ashes will be buried in Bazaar, Kansas, on family land in the Flint Hills. He will be the first one buried there. His family also wants to scatter some of his ashes in the ocean.

Part of Silas’ ashes will go with a cherry tree the family will plant in the backyard. Others they plan to take and scatter in Park City, Utah, where he visited and where other family members’ ashes are scattered.

Britton’s ashes will be buried with his parents’ remains in Salt Lake City.

Protective and loving big brother

Britton Eichbauer was the second oldest of five siblings.

He was born in California but spent his childhood in Salt Lake City before moving to Wichita when his father took a job here.

His sisters, about 10 and 11 years younger, remember him as a protector from others, but not necessarily himself.

“He was a very good big brother, but he sure liked to pick on us,” Jessica Eichbauer-Welsh said. “Just normal big brother stuff.”

Tara Pena said he would sit on them and say, “Who’s the master?” They would have to reply, “You are.”

“And he would say, ‘Who’s insignificant,”’ Pena said, “And we had to say ‘the rest of the world’ or he flicked us on the forehead repeatedly.’”

The sisters laughed, remembering it. They don’t know where he came up with it.

But he was also their protector and the person they could always count on.

Eichbauer-Welsh remembers being in high school and her brother taking her boyfriend downstairs and showing him a bullet with his name on it, warning him of the consequences of hurting her.

They said Britton always loved reggae, but they don’t know where that came from.

He was also someone they could count on. Pena remembers calling her brother in 2012 after having a miscarriage. He dropped what he was doing and came over to hug her and spend time with her.

A few years ago, Eichbauer-Welsh said she noticed a soft and rotted spot on her back door. She called her big brother, who came and ripped out the door and floor and redid it in one day.

“That same day he dropped everything for us,” Eichbauer-Welsh said.

A passionate educator and a ‘favorite teacher’

Britton’s sisters said he was a passionate educator who would start the school year by telling his new students: “Hey guys, I’m Mr. Eichbauer and I’m going to be your favorite teacher.”

He would also have “FAVORITE TEACHER” T-shirts made with his face on them that he would give to students.

His sisters remembered one story Britton told them about how a student made a bracelet for him that said “favorite teacher” but right after he smiled about it, the student jokingly handed him another that said “terrible teacher.”

He is survived by his children, Celia Eichbauer and Finnegan Eichbauer, and “bonus child” Sky Clark, his obituary says. And, in addition to Eichbauer-Welsh and Pena, he is survived by siblings Candace Bell and Toby Parcell, stepmom Jackie Allred, nearly a dozen nieces and nephews and his dog, Susan.

His children, Celia and Finnegan, who goes by Finn, also remembered Britton as a passionate person who rubbed off a lot on their youngest, Arlo.

They said the two of them would have most likely been at the large “No Kings” protest in Wichita on June 14, in tandem with 1,500 other protests across the country. The protests were against the actions of U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration.

The siblings noted their father had attended protests in the past, including the Dakota Access Pipeline protests.

“They both are passionate,” Celia Eichbauer said, adding her brother was “so willing to push the envelope with people he knew wouldn’t agree with him.”

Like father, like son

Heather Hansen said her youngest child, Arlo, was born with such a big head that the doctor had to get an extra piece of paper to show her how far off the charts he was.

Her other children were more calm and nurturing while Arlo was “just a force of nature,” she said.

“He and his dad … were very similar in that regard,” she said. “They just did what they wanted and everyone else just kind of needed to catch up.”

He grew up to be 6 feet and 300 pounds.

“He was so gentle,” Hansen said. “Not an athletic bone in his body.”

Weightlifting helped with his confidence.

He was incredibly strong, once tightening a bolt with his right hand (he was a lefty) that his stepfather, James Wright, couldn’t do with both hands.

Hansen, an English teacher in USD 259, said Arlo eventually became the most avid reader out of her children.

“As a child, he loved Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and other stories of magic and heroism,” his obituary says.

But, he eventually was dissuaded from Harry Potter after author J.K. Rowling was labeled as transphobic.

“He was very empathetic to people who were on the margins,” she said.

She called his rooms, at both her house and his father’s, as looking like “someone took a library and tipped it over.”

As Arlo got older, he read more about politics, Greek mythology and Egyptology.

“He was a dreamer,” she said. “He wanted to be an Egyptologist and he knew that wasn’t a practical pursuit.”

Arlo was tone deaf like his father, so he took to dancing.

“Nobody could wiggle their butt like him,” Hansen said, adding the bigger problem was the songs he chose to play loudly and dance too. “The more obnoxious the song, the more he would play it throughout the day.”

Those songs include Minecraft parody songs and Taio Cruz’s “Dynamite,” which he made a choreographed dance to.

“He would see what everyone else was up to and make sure that he could stand out,” Finn said. “And that wasn’t hard for him to do, especially being the outspoken he was. He was very particular about his interests and if they didn’t match the crowd, all the better.”

Celia laughed and said: “Yeah, gave him more opportunity to talk about it.”

Passionate about scuba diving

In the past couple of years, Arlo became especially passionate about scuba diving, which he started doing with his father. They went scuba diving in December 2024 in Puerto Rico, and big part of the trip to Florida was diving there with the hopes of Arlo landing an internship.

Hansen expressed concerns to Arlo in texts, telling him to be careful.

He replied: “Never” and that he was gonna “come back missing a leg.”

She then texted in capital letters: “BE CAREFUL.”

Arlo replied with three texts: first “Nah,” and then “I’m immortal,” and finally “Until proven otherwise, I cannot be hurt or killed.”

In addition to his mom and aunts, he is survived by stepsiblings Nathalie Wright and Eric Wright, five grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins.

‘He was all about Nirvana’

Britton and Arlo planned to leave on their trip on March 31. The night before, Pena asked her brother if her son Silas could tag along.

He was happy to have him. Silas, too, was excited about the adventure.

“They are just all Eichbauers,” Pena said. “The sense of humor. The travel enthusiasm.”

Pena said Silas, the second oldest of eight, ranging from 4 to 17, was “playful but kind and sweet” with his siblings: sisters, Jessica, Elese, Everlee, Micah and Anaiah, and brothers, Evander and Benjamin.

Pena said Silas was “the best gift giver.”

When he was around 10, Silas whittled a stick he found in the backyard, engraved Welsh on it and gave it to his aunt, Jessica Eichbauer-Welsh. He also wood-burned a Miami Dolphins logo for his uncle and her husband, Cole Welsh.

Pena didn’t know where Silas learned those skills, but others, she said, he learned from his father, Matthew Pena, who a couple of years ago helped him make a record player stand for Silas’ grandma, Jackie Allred. It took nine months.

As Silas grew up, he took a liking to 90s rap and alternative rock.

“He never liked anything new,” said longtime friend, Noah Graves. “He was all about Nirvana.”

Graves describes his good friend as laid back and funny.

Silas always had an interest in doing things with his hands. He did two internships related to the aviation industry and talked about working in that field when he grew up. One of those internships was last summer with GT Midwest, which makes parts for different industries, including aviation.

“Silas worked for me last summer at GT through the Y’s internship program,” Sara Nelson, a manager at GT Midwest, said in Silas’ obituary. “What a great kid! I always appreciated his positive attitude and hard work he put in every day. We were so fortunate to have him on our team.”

Silas was enjoying the trip with his cousin and uncle. He watched Susan the dog while they scuba dived, but he took part in the other activities.

The group stopped in Tennessee and did a water float before heading back to Wichita the next day.

Tara Pena was texting with her son before it went silent. She saw on the Life360 app that they were stopped on Highway 400 near Leon. She assumed his phone died.

Then, she opened Facebook and saw a media story about three people who died in that area. Her brother-in-law drove her and her sister to the wreck. An officer confirmed her worst nightmare.

“I think like most days just the loss of Silas consumes me and it is hard to get past that and to think about my nephew and brother,” she said. “Even still, I am glad that he went on that trip with them and I am glad they were all together.”

In addition to his mom, dad and siblings, Silas is also survived by aunts and uncles and cousins.

A GoFundMe for the families

A GoFundMe has been set up to help the families affected. It can be found at shorturl.at/FdevQ.

This story was originally published June 20, 2025 at 2:54 PM.