Dyck, Mary Letkeman (1922-1957)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1957 Mar 14 p. 3

Birth date: 1922

text of obituary:

M. B. Missionaries On Lost Plane

JOHN A. DYCKS & MARLENE ON PLANE WHICH CRASHED IN COLOMBIA

Hillsboro, Kan. — Since Saturday evening, March 9, the Mennonite Brethren Church Board of Foreign Missions Office here has received several communications from Colombia regarding a plane crash involving their missionaries, Brother and Sister John A. Dyck and little daughter Marlene.

The Dycks were traveling by plane from the Choco (province of Colombia in which they are stationed) to the city of Cali. According to last word received on Monday, March 11, the wrecked plane was spotted about 20 minutes flying distance from Cali.

Observations were that there were no signs of life. It will take several days, however, for a party to reach the scene of wreckage by foot to determine what happened to the 15 occupants of the two-motored plane. The stretch over which the plane was flying was jungle territory and some terrain.

The earnest intercession and prayerful remembrance of the churches is invited anew in behalf of the missionaries in view of this accident.

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1957 Mar 28 p. 1

text of obituary:

Find Bodies of Missionaries

MEMORIAL SERVICES SUNDAY FOR REV. AND MRS. JOHN DYCK, WHO DIED IN COLUMBIA PLANE CRASH

Hillsboro, Kan. — Death of Mennonite Brethren Church missionaries in Colombia, Rev. and Mrs. John A. Dyck, was confirmed on March 22 when a foot party reached the plane wreckage in a rough mountainous area.

The sad news of the passing of these two Canadian missionaries was phoned that evening to Rev. A. E. Janzen, executive-secretary of the Board of Foreign Missions.

Burial on Mountain Top

Their bodies were buried atop the mountain on which the plane crashed. Memorial services will be held in the LaCumbre Mennonite Brethren Mission Church in Colombia this Sunday, March 31. Mennonite Brethren churches in the United States and Canada will observe brief services on the same day in memory of their representatives who carried the Gospel to the people of the Colombian Choco.

Surviving the Dycks are their four children — Roland, 13; Rodney, 11; Nancy, 6, and aMrlene [sic Marlene], 2. Little Marlene was not in the plane with her parents as reported previously.

Rev. and Mrs. Dyck, serving their second term as missionaries in Colombia, were from Aberdeen, Sask. Rev. Dyck was 4o; Mrs. Dyck, 35.

Pioneered in Choco

The Dycks pioneered Mennonite Brethren Church mission work in [sic earlier line duplicated in original: 11; Nancy, 6, and Marlene, 2] was Istmina. Though they encountered much opposition in the work and though their lives were often in jeopardy, their ministry was blessed by god. Many Chocoanos responded to the gospel through their ministry.

Death of Rev. and Mrs. Dyck had been speculated nearly two weeks ago. A plane on which they were flying crashed March 9 in a rough mountainous area in deep jungle territory. Rev. Dyck was taking Mrs. Dyck, who was ailing, from the Choco to Palmira for medical aid. Within 20 minutes flying time of Cali, the plane crashed in an area almost inaccesible [sic] in any other way than by air.

In Rescue Party

Attempts were made to reach the site by helicopter, but heavy clouds and fog prevented a landing. It was then a foot party started out and reached the spot on March 22. Missionary J. A. Loewen (Yarrow, B. C.) took an important responsibility in the expedition.

The Board of Foreign Missions extends sympathy to those who grieve the passing of the Dycks. Interested persons are invited to pray for the four children, the other Columbia missionaries, the national Christians who looked to them for comfort and encouragement, and for the immediate relatives who grieve their sudden departure.

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1957 Apr 4 p. 3

text of obituary:

Memorial Service Held in Colombia

REV. AND MRS. JOHN DYCK HAD BEEN MISSIONARIES FOR TWELVE YEARS

Sardis, British Columbia. — Memorial services for Rev. and Mrs. John A. Dyck, Mennonite Brethren missionaries to Colombia, S. A. who were among the victims of a plane crash March 9, were to be held at the LaCumbre M. B. Mission Church in Colombia on Sunday, March 31.

Memorial services were also arranged for the Sardis M. B. church, of which the Dycks were members, and in other M.B. churches of Canada and the United States.

Rev. Dyck, 40, was formerly of Mullinger, Sask. and his wife, the former Mary Letkeman, was the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Letkeman of Sardis. She was 35. They had been missionaries to South America for the past 12 years and last visited in the home community of Chilliwack in 1952.

It has been learned that Rev. Dyck's brother, J. A. Dyck of Vancouver, left for Colombia to bring back their youngest daughter, Marlene, 2. the other three surviving children will remain in school in Colombia and return to Canada later.

The Letkemans last heard from their daughter a short time before she and her husband left on the flight to Cali. At that time she was very weak from an attack of malaria. the plane crashed in mountainous territory near Cali, killing all 12 passengers and the crew of three. It was March 22 before a foot party was able to reach the scene of the crash. Rev. and Mrs. Dyck were buried on the mountain top where they died.