ELCA NEWS SERVICE August 13, 2008 Wartburg College Regent Dies in Wyoming Plane Crash 08-140-LT* CHICAGO (ELCA) -- Dr. Ralph E. Otto, 67, Wilmette, Ill., died Aug. 10 in an airplane collision near Rock Springs- Sweetwater County Airport, Rock Springs, Wyo. Otto was a board of regents member of Wartburg College, Waverly, Iowa, one of 28 colleges and universities of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Otto was a cardiothoracic surgeon at Resurrection Medical Center, Chicago, and was a member of the Flying Physicians Association, Montgomery, Texas. Otto was flying one of the planes involved in the crash. Dr. C. Michael Downey, 67, Columbus, Ohio, and Dave Knezovich, 54, Rock Springs also died in the crash. According to the Chicago Tribune, Otto and Downey were flying from Montana and had been cleared to land when their plane collided with an aircraft piloted by Knezovich, who was on a solo student flight. Otto graduated from Wartburg College with a degree in chemistry and biology in 1963 and has served on the board of regents since 1992. Otto and his late wife, Diane, who died in December 2007 from breast cancer, were members of Lutheran Church of the Ascension, Northfield, Ill. Plans for a memorial service are pending. -- -- -- Information about Dr. Otto and the plane crash is at http://wartburg.edu/Article.aspx?ID=2891 on the Web. *Luke Tatge is a senior journalism major at Augustana College, Sioux Falls, S.D. This summer he is an intern with the ELCA News Service. For information contact: John Brooks, Director (773) 380-2958 or [log in to unmask] http://www.elca.org/news ELCA News Blog: http://www.elca.org/news/blog