Otto, Alva Gene (1951-1972)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1972 Aug 17 p. 7

Birth date: 1951

text of obituary:

College Student Killer, Two Co-Workers Injured in Fall from Silo

Goshen, Ind. — A 21-year-old student at Eastern Mennonite College in Virginia was instantly killed and two co-workers injured Aug. 4 in a fall of about 70 feet on a silo construction job near Wheatfield, Ind.

Dead is Alva Gene Otto, son of Milton E. and Lucy Otto of Arcola, Ill. Larry Schrock, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. David Schrock of Middlebury, was critically injured in the accident, and Richard Ours, 20, son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard d. Ours of Harrisonburg, Va. was less seriously hurt. Both were taken to a Valparaiso, Ind. hospital.

The three young men, employees of New Paris Silo and Equipment, inc., were found at the bottom of the silo by a son of Nelson de Young, on whose farm they were working. The farmer reported that a center support pole for the scaffold may have given way while they were working near the top of the nearly completed silo. They apparently were dismantling the scaffold to move it higher when it collapsed. They fell to a safety scaffold eight feet below, and then to the ground.

The Schrock youth reportedly suffered a concussion and vertebra and internal injuries. Richard Ours, a junior at EMC, also had back injuries as well as a broken ankle.

Gene Otto had worked for the New Paris firm for the past three summers, during which he resided in Goshen. He is survived by the parents and six brothers. Funeral services were held Sunday afternoon, Aug. 6, at the Sunny side Conservative Mennonite Church, Arcola.