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
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