Kathy Pinna
Hastings students grieve for classmates
Three died when car crashed into embankment
Mark Richard Tate, a 16-year-old sophomore, had gotten his driver's license only six month ago. He had just made the "A" honor roll at Hastings High School and wanted to study architecture, his stepfather said. Friends said he had been dating Kari Ann Falk, and eighth-grader at Hastings Middle School across town. She was 13
They'll be buried today. Their friends, 14-year-old Elizabeth Ann Christenson, will be buried Thursday. The three teen-agers were killed instantly Saturday night when Tate missed a turn on a Dakota County road and slammed his 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass into a dirt embankment southeast of Hastings. Another passenger, 15-year-old Lee Michael Chandler, remained hospitalized yesterday in serious condition at St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Center.
The Dakota County Sheriff's Department is investigating the accident, including whether alcohol contributed to it. Full cans of beer were found in the car, said Lt. Ralph Shingledecker, the department's chief criminal investigator. Results from Tate's blood test are due back today from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Shingledecker said.
Investigators will also seek to determine whether the car had faulty equipment, he said. "Nobody knows for sure (what caused the accident), " said Ron Schaack, Tate's stepfather. While the probe continued yesterday, grieving friends began collecting money during their school lunch hour for living memorials to support fund for Jennifer Tietz, a 2-year-old girl injured in a St. Paul fire, and Rita Erickson, a Columbia Heights girl who needs a liver transplant.
"They're turning a tragedy into something positive with these memorials," said Leonard Schwartz, principal of the middle school. "It's hard for anyone to accept, but especially hard for this age group," he said. "They think they're immortal, that nothing is going to ever happen to them. Here their two friends were with them on Friday. They're not here today."
More than 100 students shared their grief yesterday in group sessions led by counselors, psychologists and nurses at the school. "You see all kinds of emotions," said Joselyn Hennings, a counselor and part of the school's crisis-intervention team. "For the most part, we've just let them talk."
Authorities said Tate missed the turn at the intersection of County Roads 54 and 68, about seven miles southeast of Hastings at 8:30 p.m. Saturday. He was southbound on 54 when the car went out of control, through a T-intersection with 68 and into the embankment. Middle-school students learned of the deaths when Schwartz made an announcement over the public-address system yesterday morning, followed by a moment of silence.
"Nothing ever happens in Hastings," said Debbie Groth, an eighth-trade student council representative and friend of the victims. "But this morning it was quiet. The whole school was completely quiet."
- Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Tuesday, March 31, 1987 on page 13. By Staff writer Rob Hotakainen.
Mark Richard Tate, a 16-year-old sophomore, had gotten his driver's license only six month ago. He had just made the "A" honor roll at Hastings High School and wanted to study architecture, his stepfather said. Friends said he had been dating Kari Ann Falk, and eighth-grader at Hastings Middle School across town. She was 13
They'll be buried today. Their friends, 14-year-old Elizabeth Ann Christenson, will be buried Thursday. The three teen-agers were killed instantly Saturday night when Tate missed a turn on a Dakota County road and slammed his 1974 Oldsmobile Cutlass into a dirt embankment southeast of Hastings. Another passenger, 15-year-old Lee Michael Chandler, remained hospitalized yesterday in serious condition at St. Paul-Ramsey Medical Center.
The Dakota County Sheriff's Department is investigating the accident, including whether alcohol contributed to it. Full cans of beer were found in the car, said Lt. Ralph Shingledecker, the department's chief criminal investigator. Results from Tate's blood test are due back today from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, Shingledecker said.
Investigators will also seek to determine whether the car had faulty equipment, he said. "Nobody knows for sure (what caused the accident), " said Ron Schaack, Tate's stepfather. While the probe continued yesterday, grieving friends began collecting money during their school lunch hour for living memorials to support fund for Jennifer Tietz, a 2-year-old girl injured in a St. Paul fire, and Rita Erickson, a Columbia Heights girl who needs a liver transplant.
"They're turning a tragedy into something positive with these memorials," said Leonard Schwartz, principal of the middle school. "It's hard for anyone to accept, but especially hard for this age group," he said. "They think they're immortal, that nothing is going to ever happen to them. Here their two friends were with them on Friday. They're not here today."
More than 100 students shared their grief yesterday in group sessions led by counselors, psychologists and nurses at the school. "You see all kinds of emotions," said Joselyn Hennings, a counselor and part of the school's crisis-intervention team. "For the most part, we've just let them talk."
Authorities said Tate missed the turn at the intersection of County Roads 54 and 68, about seven miles southeast of Hastings at 8:30 p.m. Saturday. He was southbound on 54 when the car went out of control, through a T-intersection with 68 and into the embankment. Middle-school students learned of the deaths when Schwartz made an announcement over the public-address system yesterday morning, followed by a moment of silence.
"Nothing ever happens in Hastings," said Debbie Groth, an eighth-trade student council representative and friend of the victims. "But this morning it was quiet. The whole school was completely quiet."
- Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Tuesday, March 31, 1987 on page 13. By Staff writer Rob Hotakainen.
