WICHITA, Kan. — At 9 a.m. Wednesday, Oct. 2, Wichita State will host the 54th Observance of Memorial ’70. The ceremony will honor the 31 WSU football players, administrators and supporters who died in a 1970 plane crash in the Rocky Mountains. It will take place at the Memorial near 18th and Hillside.
A wreath will be placed at the base of Memorial ’70, and there will be a time of remembrance to acknowledge the changes that the plane crash made in the lives of the victims, their families, their friends and the university.
Those interested in making a tax-deductible contribution in memory of the crash victims can give to the Football ’70 Memorial Scholarship, the only endowed scholarship at WSU dedicated in collective memory to those who died in the tragedy.
The scholarship is awarded each year to a student of any major with at least a 3.0 GPA who demonstrates financial need.
Contributions can be made through the WSU Foundation, 1845 Fairmount St., Wichita, KS 67260-0002, for the Football ’70 Memorial Scholarship.
Contributions also may be made online. Request to direct your gift to the Football ’70 Memorial Scholarship at www.wichita.edu/give.
TRIBUTE LOCATIONS ON CAMPUS
A reception will be held immediately following the ceremony in the lobby of Duerksen Fine Arts Center across from the memorial. The Shocker ’70 Room in 202 Rhatigan Student Center will be open for anyone who would like to drop in.
The Memorial 70 display case on the Koch Arena concourse has pictures of the deceased and the certificate for the Wichita Sports Hall of Fame.
PARKING AND DIRECTIONS
Please visit www.Wichita.edu/maps to explore the campus or download driving directions as needed.
The Tragedy
In one of the worst tragedies of college sports history, a plane carrying WSU football players, athletic staff members and team boosters crashed at approximately 3 p.m., Oct. 2, 1970, on a mountain near Silver Plume, Colorado, while en route to Logan, Utah, for a game against Utah State University.
The “Gold” plane, a Martin 404, carried 36 passengers and a crew of four. Twenty-nine persons died at the scene. Trainer Tom Reeves and player John Taylor died later in the hospital after receiving medical attention for their injuries.
Survivors of the crash were players Mike Bruce, John Hoheisel, Randy Jackson, Glenn Kostal, Dave Lewis, Keith Morrison, Bob Renner, Rick Stephens and co-pilot Ronald Skipper.
Football players and coaches on the “Black” plane were told of the crash by Bob Seaman, assistant coach, shortly after arrival in Logan, Utah. The game with Utah State was cancelled. WSU players spent the night in Logan and returned to Wichita by commercial plane Saturday.
A plane was made available by Governor Docking to take university officials and family of the survivors to Denver. Classes were cancelled Monday, October 5, and a memorial service was held Monday evening at Cessna Stadium.
The Utah State football team held a brief memorial service at the stadium where the game was to be played Saturday and placed a black and yellow wreath on the 50-yard line.
The future of the 1970 football season was in doubt, with the decision lying in the hands of the football players, university officials and eligibility rules. The NCAA had no objection of using freshman in the remaining games; neither did the Missouri Valley Conference.
The football players decided to continue the season, which was later designated as the “Second Season.” The first game following the air tragedy was Sat., Oct. 24 with the University of Arkansas Razorbacks in Little Rock at the War Memorial Stadium.
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