Remembering those killed on that fateful day in 1970

Forty-six years ago, a plane carrying members of Wichita State University’s football team, staff members and boosters crashed into the side of a Colorado mountain on the way to Utah for a game.

On Sunday, emotions were still raw as members of the community, crash survivors and family of the dead gathered for the college’s annual ceremony marking that fateful day: Oct. 2, 1970.

In total, 31 people died when the plane went down.

Nearly half were young football players who were just beginning to live out their dreams, WSU president John Bardo said during the brief morning service. Only nine people survived.

“We celebrate when we form a new program, when we get a new patent or one of our faculty members gets recognized as a national or international scholar. But universities exist over time. And during that time, there’s also pain and tragedy,” Bardo said, addressing a crowd of about 100.

“It’s critical that we as an institution come together to remember those who are part of us forever – who didn’t have the chance to be that Nobel laureate, who didn’t have the chance to be that pro football player, who didn’t have the chance to see their children and grandchildren grow to full flower.”

The memorial ceremony is held each year at Memorial ’70, a towering stone tribute to the dead sitting on campus near 18th and Hillside. WSU is at 1845 N. Fairmount.

Sunday’s service included opening and closing remarks from Bardo, two prayers led by retired the Rev. Charles Claycomb of University United Methodist Church and an a cappella performance of Joseph Martin’s “Song for the Unsung Hero” by WSU’s Madrigal choir.

The gathering comes a day after surviving members of the 1970 WSU football team met with members of the 1970 University of Arkansas football team to commemorate the first game of what’s known as the “Season Season” – played after the fatal crash. The Shockers played the Razorbacks on Oct. 24, 1970.

The aftermath of the meeting left a lasting impression on both teams, Bardo said Sunday.

As in memorial ceremonies past, wreaths crafted of yellow flowers and black ribbon – the university’s colors – were placed on the Memorial ’70 statue by surviving family members. Afterward the names of the dead were read aloud.

A few people in the crowd wiped away tears and bowed their heads as the names were spoken: players Marvin Brown, Don Christian, John Duren, Ron Johnson, Randy Kiesau, Mal Kimmel, Carl Krueger, Steve Moore, Tom Owen, Gene Robinson, Tom Shedden, Richard Stines, John Taylor and Jack Vetter; WSU athletic director Bert Katzenmeyer and his wife, Marian; football coach Ben Wilson and his wife, Helen; WSU staff and boosters Tom Reeves, Marty Harrison, Carl Fahrbach, Floyd Farmer, Ray and Maxine Coleman, John and Etta Mae Grooms, and Ray and Yvonne King; pilot Dan Crocker; and crew members Judy Dunn and Judy Lane.

The annual memorial ceremony, Bardo said Sunday, “is an acknowledgment of the changes that the plane crash made in the lives of the victims, their families, their friends and in the university.”

Even though the survivors and those affected are now scattered across the country, “we are indeed one at this time and in this place and on this day,” he said.

This story was originally published October 2, 2016 at 6:11 PM with the headline "Remembering those killed on that fateful day in 1970."