Friends, family and colleagues gathered for the annual remembrance at the Memorial ‘70 service Thursday morning.
Held every year, the service honors the victims of the Oct. 2, 1970, plane crash. On that day, the Wichita State football team was traveling in two planes, one designated “Black,” the other “Gold.” They were on a road trip to play against Utah State University.
Thirty one football players, university staff, boosters and air crew members died after the “Gold” plane crashed near Silver Plume, Colorado. Eight players survived the crash, along with the co-pilot.
Tony Newry was friends with Randy Jackson, a survivor of the crash.
“As a scholarship student athlete in 1976,” Newry said. “I was part of the football program. After playing football here at WSU, I became friends with one of the plane survivors, Mr. Randy Jackson.
“We became good friends, and we played basketball with him over at Robinson Junior High, and became a good friend of mine. We became neighbors, and that’s how I got identified with this memorial that they have. So I started coming because of him.”
James Rhatigan was the Dean of Students at the time. Rhatigan died in October 2024, and his widow, Beverly, and daughter Becky were in attendance at Thursday’s 55th memorial.
James was at a meeting in St. Louis when he got a call from Clark Ahlberg, WSU’s president at the time of the crash. Ahlberg told James to come home immediately after the crash happened.
“It was very difficult,” Beverly said. “Jim never got over it. They had a fundraiser, and they raised money so they could pay the tuition of all the players, and then they helped the children of the players.”
No survivors of the crash appeared at Thursday’s memorial, but a few of their children made an appearance that day.
Bill Glasco was a member of the football team on the “Black” plane and said that it gets more special every year.
“It’s just a great group of guys, and they’re a lot of fun to be around, and yet, everyone knows why we’re here,” Glasco said. “So that’s always in our minds, but we’re able to accommodate it pretty well. (It) used to be even worse when we (would) come back, because some of the players who died, their family members, their parents would be here. That was about the worst.”
Glasco’s wife, Kathy, attended Northwest Missouri State when the crash happened.
“We were dating long distance,” Kathy said. “He was supposed to come home that weekend. And then they put him on the plane, and so nobody knew what plane he was on or if he was even coming home.”
Newry gave a reason why the memorial should be important to the public.
“It’s because of the courage of the survivors to continue the program is the reason why I’ve been given a life here in Wichita,” Newry said. “I came here to play football for Wichita State University. I’ve never left. I’ve raised my family, I’ve operated a business, and my whole life has been because of the courage of those people who survived.”
As the years pass on, those remaining who were there when the crash happened are not always able to be there.
“It’s because we don’t live forever,” Newry said.
Editor’s note: A previous version of this story said that James Rhatigan was a former president at Wichita State, but he never served in that role. This story has since been updated.
