Voth, Menno (d. 1968)

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1969 Jan 23 p. 2

Birth date:

text of obituary:

Five Members of Missionary Family Die in Plane Crash

The crash of a Missionary Aviation Fellowship plane n New Guinea on Dec. 31 claimed the lives of the pilot, Menno Voth of Vanderhoof, B. C., and Mr. and Mrs. Gene Newman of Amity, Ore. and three of their four children, according to an Evangelical Press release from Fullerton, Calif.

Mrs. Newman was the former Lois Dirks, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Norman Dirks of Oakland, Calif. and granddaughter of Rev. and Mrs. A. J. Dirks of Moundridge, Kan. Mr. Newman had served as field accountant for the MAF in West Irian.

The Cessna 185 plane crashed into a mountain at high altitude while flying through a precipitous gorge. The location was in the vicinity of a New Guinea village where two missionaries were ambushed and killed on Sept. 25, 1968. The Newmans’ 10-year-old son Paul was thrown clear of the wreckage and escaped serious injury. It is reported that the same tribesmen who had taken part in the ambush cared for the lad while he awaited rescue. When rescuers arrived, villagers were said to exclaim, “We beg you for your friendship.”

Voth, the pilot, leaves his wife Priscilla and one child.