Butler County, Kansas

Sarah and Curtis Snell are buried in Economy Cemetery, in the family plot of their grandparents, Eugene and Phyllis Enos of Marion.  A memorial service was held at the Church of the Living Savior in McFarland, California; the children's bodies were brought back to Kansas where a private family graveside service was held which followed with a memorial service at the Eastmoor United Methodist Church. 


The following poem is engraved on the front of the stone:

THE OLIVE TREE

Rise with the spirit little doves
Go to the place where the olive leaves grow
To the source of life and peace
Your souls will know.
Quickly past the wisdom of man
Commingled with love and prayer of the saints.
Search for the olive three - it patiently waits.
A light on the branches of green
Bearing fruit born from unbearable pain.
Look for the Master without blemish or stain.
For the three which you find will be shaped like a cross
Its crevices filled with the blood which He lost.
The Lamb will be there to caress and to save.
We patiently wait here for the Spirit to come.
Bringing peace that with the olive leaves come.
The time will soon be when it's our turn to fly
To join in the peace and the love of the flight.
                       Glen E. Snell - Uncle

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Snell, Sarah Danielle, 10, and Curtis Royce, 8, both of Delano, Calif., former McFarland residents, both students, died in a plane crash, Tuesday, Dec. 30, 1995. Joint memorial service 4 p.m. Friday, Eastmoor United Methodist Church, Marion.

Survivors: parents, Lloyd and Teresa Snell of Turlock, Calif.; grandpar ents, Gene and Phyllis Enos of Marion. Memorial has been established with Eastmoor United Methodist Church. Zeiner Funeral Home.
(The Wichita, Kansas, Eagle - January 10, 1996)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ENOS GRANDCHILDREN KILLED IN PLANE CRASH

Sarah and Curtis Snell, aged 10 and 8 respectively, were killed Saturday in an airplane crash near Bakersfield, California.

The children, who were with their paternal grandparents, were returning to their home in California following a family gathering in Arizona.  All four were killed.

Sarah and Curtis were the children of Lloyd and Terry Snell and grandchildren of Eugene and Phyllis Enos of Marion.
(Marion County, Kansas,  Record ~ 3 Jan 1996)

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 PLANE CRASH VICTIMS IDENTIFIED AS RICHARD WHISLER AND FAMILY

 
Funeral arrangements are being made in California for a former county resident who died in a small plane crash on Saturday.

Richard L. Whisler and his wife, Evie Snell Whisler, both originally of California, and two of her grandchildren from that area, were killed when the single-engine Beechcraft Bonanza airplane they were traveling in crashed about noon Saturday in Kern County, about 120 miles north of Los Angeles, according to a family friend and the Kern County Sheriff's Department.

Federal Aviation Administration officials said the plane had left Prescott, Ariz., earlier Saturday. Officials did not release the destination.

Whisler, a native of Bakersfield, Calif., had been an employee of the Educators Mutual Insurance Co.

A graduate of Elizabethtown College, he was a former member of Lancaster Church of the Brethren.

The congregation was informed of his death during Sunday morning services, according to the Rev. Guy Wampler.

"He was a super good guy," said Jim Hollinger, a longtime friend. "He would do anything for you."

Whisler's first wife, Joyce, died suddenly as the result of an aneurysm about 10 years ago, according to Joyce Bohn of Lancaster.

Bohn, a member of Lancaster Church of the Brethren, said she had been a friend of the Whisler family for more than 20 years.

"You couldn't find a better family," she said.

Whisler had a pilot's license, according to Bohn.

Whisler and his second wife, Evelyn "Evie" Snell Whisler, ran a ranch in McFarland, Calif.

Evelyn's first husband had died after he was electrocuted on the ranch, according to Bohn.

The Snells and the Whislers had been friends for years, Bohn said.

Bohn said she believes the two children killed in the crash were Evelyn's grandchildren.

Whisler had two sons, according to Bohn, Brian of Charlotte, N.C, and Joel of Whittier, Calif.
Intelligencer Journal (Lancaster, PA) - January 2, 1996

              

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