Submitted by: Cindy Duckett; Wichita, KS; CKDuckett@cox.net; www.ceokansas.org Delta County Independent [newspaper] P.O. Box 809 Delta, CO 81416 NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ON SEPARATE PAGE: TWO DIE WHEN PLANE CRASHES NEAR CORTEZ Former Delta Couple in Accident While En Route Here for Visit (Reported in the Delta County Independent, Thursday, August 15, 1948) An airplane tragedy claimed the lives of two former Delta persons, a search culminating in the discovery of the bodies of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth P. Egnew, disclosed Tuesday night. En route from their home at Thermal, Calif., to Delta on a surprise visit to Mr. Egnew’s parents, Mr. and Mrs. R. C. Egnew, and friends here, the plane they crashed shortly after they took off from Cortez Aug. 3. Due to the fact that no one here expected them, they were not missed until a neighbor in California became alarmed when they did not return for several days after they had intended, and wired Delta to see if the pair had left here. An immediate search was organized as soon as possible as word was received Monday, and wreckage of the plane was sighted early Tuesday in Disappointment Basin, about 15 miles northwest of Cortez. Within an hour and a half after Charles N. Bumgardner, head of the local Civil Air Patrol, received word that the plane was overdue, Maj. Rex J. Howell, head of the Western Colorado CAP, had the entire CAP of the Western Slope alerted, and less than 18 hours the wrecked plane was discovered by Rolland Usher of Cortez. A group of 22 lead by Sheriff J. H. McConnell of Montezuma County, reached the wrecked plane late Tuesday, to bring out the bodies. After the bodies were taken from the plane and identified by Wayne Kirch, a brother-in-law of Mrs. Egnew, they were carried by hand between three and four miles to the rim of Beaver Cañon, where trucks proved [provided] by the forest service and Orrel Conoley of Cortez were waiting. A trip in darkness to the canon rim required more than two hours. Plane spotters Bill Hopper and Rodney McGee of Cortez, Jack Majors, a stockman who flew over the crash scene to obtain bearings for directing the searchers across his cattle range, and forest Supervisor C. K. Collins were among the party that brought out the bodies. Death evidently came instantly for both, when their light plane, a Ryan trainer crashed into the canon wall. Both bodies were jammed into the wreckage of the open cockpit hip [sic.] [ship] and the removal, under direction of Coroner J. W. Ertel, was difficult. The shattered plan [sic.] [plane] lay at the bottom of the steep walled Beaver canon. The bodies were brought to Delta by Quncy Lamar early Thursday morning, and funeral services will be at the Elks Home Friday afternoon. Complete obituaries will be found on this page. No word has been received here as to the cause of the crash. It is reported that the Egnews took off from the Cortez airport while a storm was raging in nearly mountains. The Egnews had lived in California the past three years and previously made their home here. Mrs. Egnew, a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. B. Volz, lived at Olathe [sic.] [Kansas] [Ouray, CO?] at the time of her marriage to Mr. Egnew in 1937. Mr. Egnew lived in Delta from the time he was seven years old until he went to California. Mr. Egnew was one of the famous flying class at Delta organized in 1940. It included among its 14 members, Starr Nelson; Gib Bennett; instructor in the army air forces, Jack Eckert who made many combat missions with the army air force over Europe; and Mrs. E. R. Phillips. The Egnew death was the first fatality in the group, which has flown many thousands of hours and the crash is said to be the only serious accident suffered by any of these fliers. -3- Obituaries Bineta [Vineta?] Mae Egnew: Bineta [Vineta?] Mae Egnew, wife of Kenneth P. Egnew, died Aug. 3, in the tragic airplane crash which also took the life of her husband. Bineta [Vineta?] Mae Egnew was born Sept. 4, 1913 at Homestead, Oklahoma [Note: The State of Oklahoma responded to this writer’s request for a birth certificate, that no birth record exists in Oklahoma.], to Mr. and Mrs. Bernardhardt Volz. She graduated from high school at Axtell, Kan. With her parents she came to Delta in 1936 and was a resident here prior to three years ago. She was married to Kenneth P. Egnew at Ouray in November, 1937. In 1943 they went to Thermal, Calif., to make their home. She is survived by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Bernardhardt Volz of Portland, Ore.; two brothers, Bernard Volz and Renno Volz of Portland; three sisters, Mrs. L. E. Ellis and Clorene Volz of Portland; and Mrs. Wayne Kirch of Las Vegas, Nev. Services will be held Friday at 2:30 p.m. at the Elks Home with Rev. E. E. Acheson officiating. Services will be under the direction of the Lamar Funeral Home. Burial will be in the Delta Cemetery. Kenneth Paul Egnew: Kenneth Paul Egnew, 37, son of Mr. and Mrs. R. C. Egnew of 602 Grand Avenue, Delta, was killed when the plane in which he was flying crashing [sic.] [crashed] in Disappointment Valley near Cortez on Aug. 3. Kenneth Egnew was born June 30, 1909, at Brighton, Colo. With the Egnew family he moved to Delta when he was seven years old. He attended Delta High School prior to his senior year, which he completed at Fullerton, Calif. He also attended the Roswell Military Academy at Roswell, N.M. In November, 1937 he was married to Bineta [Vineta?] Zolz at Ouray, Colo. In 1943 the couple went to Thermal, Calif. to make their home. He was in charge of the Egnew ranch there. He is survived by his parents, Mr. and Mrs. R. C. Egnew of Delta, and a brother, Semper Egnew, of Long Beach, Calif. The funeral will be held Friday at 2:30 p.m. at the Elks Home with Rev. E. E. Acheson officiating. Services will be under the direction of the Lamar Funeral Home with burial in the Delta Cemetery.