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West, Berdena Ellen (1936-1953)

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Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1953 Oct 22 p. 1

Birth date: 1936

text of obituary:

Three Students Drowned

Class Outing Of Western Mennonite School, Oregon, Ends in Tragedy

Portland, Oregon. — Three students of Western Mennonite School near Salem drowned in Crescent Lake Thursday evening, Oct. 15, when their motorboat overturned during a school outing. Victims of the tragic mishap were Sanford Kauffman, 18, of Creston, Mont., Wayne Snyder, 18, of Filler [sic Filer], Idaho, and Ellen West, 17, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Clarence West, Sweet Home, Ore.

A fourth passenger in the boat, Norma Jean Kauffman, 17, daughter of Rev. and Mrs. George Kauffman of Brownsville, Oregon, was able to stay afloat until rescued by a man who heard her screams and came to the scene in another boat.

Miss Kauffman, who was taken to a clinic for treatment of shock and exposure, said she and her companions had gone out on the lake about dusk. She did not know what caused the boat to capsize.

The four young people were members of a group of 23 who had gone on the annual Senior Sneak Day outing. They were accompanied by Rev. Clayton Swartzendruber, principal of the school.

Crescent Lake is located high in the Cascade mountains southeast of Portland.


Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 1953 Nov 19 p. 11

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