Memorial services for Joe GUHR, 21, his wife, Stephanie GUHR, [203336685]21, Garlis [sic]CLEMENS, [[203335866] ]19, and Roy SLABAUGH [203336742], 24, will be today in Sunnyslope Mennonite Church, 9835 N. Seventh St.
The four Mennonite Church members were killed in a private airplane crash December 20, 1978, on Green Mountain in eastern Arizona. The wreckage was found Saturday. They were en route to a vacation in Kansas.
Mr. and Mrs. GUHR, 4231 W. Vista, were volunteer workers at the church. He was a teacher's aide and she was a receptionist and secretary for a law firm. Mr. GUHR is survived by parents, Mr. and Mrs. Samuel GUHR; a sister and a brother. Mrs. GUHR is survived by her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Robert STAHLY; a sister and a brother.
Mr. SLABAUGH, 12602 N. 23rd St., was pilot of the plane. He graduated from Paradise Valley High School, Phoenix College and was a member of Grace Mennonite Church. Surviving are his parents, Owen and Edna SLABAUGH; two sisters, two brothers; and two grandparents.
Miss CLEMENS lived with the Guhrs and was serving a volunteer mission at the church. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Edgar CLEMENS, three sisters and three brothers survive.
Published in The Arizona Republic on July 5, 1979
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The following four persons died as a result of a plane crash near Vernon, Ariz., Dec. 20, 1978.
The site of the plane crash was only recently discovered. Memorial services were held at the Sunnyslope Mennonite Church, Phoenix, Ariz., July 5, in charge of Ray Smee, H.Eugene and Mary Herr, Leonard Wiebe. Waldo Miller, Ray Keim, Roger Esch, and David Mann; interment in Resthaven Park Cemetery, Glendale, Ariz.
Clemens, Darlis Renee, daughter of Edgar and Rhoda (Hostetter) Clemens, was born on Sept. 10, 1959; aged 19 y. She is survived by her parents, 3 brothers (Fredric, Jonathon, and Conrad), and 3 sisters (Rosa, Marcia, and Andrea). She was a member of Souderton Mennonite Church and Bethel Grove Bible Church. Ithaca, N Y.
Guhr, Joe Dennis, son of Samuel and Linda (Ediger) Guhr, was born in Newton, Kan., Aug. 4, 1957; aged 21 y. On July 31, 1976, he was married to Stephanie Jean Stahly. Surviving are his parents, one sister (Lynette Peters), and one brother (Jim). He was a member of Faith Mennonite Church, Newton, Kan.
Guhr, Stephanie Jean, daughter of Robert and Jeanine (Parrish) Stahly, was born in Wichita, Kan., Mar. 14, 1957; aged 21 y. On July 31, 1976, she was married to Joe Dennis Gunr. Surviving are one sister (Jacqueline) and one brother(Robert Joe). She was a member of Faith Mennonite Cnurch, Newton, Kan.
Slabaugh, Roy, son of Owen and Edna (Kurtz) Slabaugh, was born at Canton, Ohio, Sept. 6, 1954; aged 24 y. Surviving are his parents, 3 sisters (Donna Swartz, Drussilla. and Dawn), and 2 brothers (Glen and Phil) He was a member of Grace Mennonite Church, Phoenix, Ariz.
Published in the Gospel Herald on July 24, 1979

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 28 Jun 1979 p. 12
Mennonite Weekly Review obituary: 12 Jul 1979 p. 8

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Newton parents await air search
NEWTON - The parents of a young couple formerly from Newton had no word Monday about a missing single-engine plane carryng their children home for Christmas.
Wednesday night Joe and Stephanie Guhr, both 21, boarded a plane with Darlis Clemens, Ithica [sic] N.Y., and the plane's pilot, Roy Slaybaugh, of Phoenix. They were going to fly to Amarillo, Texas, to refuel and then to Newton for the holiday. The plane never arrived in Amarillo and by Monday night had not yet been found.
"They were supposed to arrive here at 1:30 a.m. Thursday," Mrs. Sam Guhr, mother of Joe Guhr said Monday night. "We have heard at noon (Monday) there's no report." Mrs. Guhr said she, her husband and two other children celebrated Christmas Sunday, as planned. "We still have our hopes up," Mrs. Guhr said. "We don't want to give up."
Joe and Stephanie Guhr left Newton last fall to work in the Mennonite Voluntary Service Unit in Phoenix. Stephanie Guhr's parents are Mr. and Mrs. Robert Stahly, also of Newton.
A spokesman for the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Scott Air Force Base in Illinois said Monday night the search for the plane had been extensive, but was not conducted Christimas day. This was partly because the search had continued four days and turned up nothing and because of the holiday.
He said weather conditions the. night Slaybaugh's plane took off had been windy, but clear. The terrain between Scottsdale and Amarillo is mountainous, rugged and heavily forested, thus making the sighting of a crashed or landed plane difficult, he said.
Civil Air Patrol volunteers from Arizona, New Mexico and Texas as well as law enforcement officials in Arizona nave been involved in the search. Officials said 220 CAP flights have been involved in the search/ for the plane Slaybaugh was flying. Slaybaugh, who the AFRCC spokesman said is not a professional pilotv, did not have radio contact with anyone after his take-off. Slaybaugh had rented the plane he was flying.
Published in the Hutchinson News on Tuesday, December 26, 1978 - Page 1

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

PHOENIX (UPI) - The Civil Air Patrol resumed searching Tuesday for a plane that disappeared last Wednesday with four persons aboard while on a flight to Kansas. The search was halted Christmas Day but was picked up after the CAP received two leads indicating the plane may have reached eastern Arizona.
It had taken off from Scottsdale Municipal Airport, bound for Newton, Kan., via Amarillo, Texas.
Col. Leon Appel of the CAP said one pilot reported seeing another plane in the Show Low-Springervllle area at about the time the missing aircraft would have flown over the area. The CAP also checked a report that a plane disappeared from radar screens in Albuquerque about the same time. However, Appel said because of the mountains in eastern Arizona, planes often disappear from the screens.
Appel said since these were the only leads the CAP has turned up in nearly a week of searching, the effort would be concentrated in that eastern Arizona area Tuesday.
He said six CAP planes were due to be in the air.
The single-engine Pipe Comanohe was piloted by Roy Slabaugh, 24, of Paradise Valley, Ariz, Passengers were Joe and Stephanie Guhr, who recently moved to Phoenix from Newton, Kan., and Darlys Clemens of Utica, N.Y.[sic]
Mrs. Guhr is a niece of Mrs. D. Wayne Montgomery, 2202 Leland Way, Salina.
The Guhrs had been engaged in a year of work for the Mennonite Central Committee at a school in Phoenix and were on their way home to Newton for the holidays.
Mrs. Guhr's parents are Mr. and Mrs, Robert Stahly, rural Newton.
Montgomery said one of the difficulties facing searchers is that the plane is entirely white in color and probably is down in snow-covered mountain country.
Published in The Salina Journal onTuesday, December 26, 1978 - Page 12

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Air search stalled by weather
A winter storm halted an air search in northern Arizona and New Mexico planned for the weekend to hunt for a plane carrying four persons, including a Newton couple, Joe and Stephanie Guhr.
The plane left Scottsdale, Ariz., Dec. 20, enroute to Newton. Authorities reported the plane missing after it failed to make a scheduled refueling stop in Amarillo, Tex.
An official at the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center said Saturday that a winter storm is delaying an intensive air search which was planned for the weekend.
Civil Air Patrol officials at Scottsdale, stopped searching Dec. 27 due to bad weather predicted, to a lack of new leads and out of physical necessity.
"We've expended an awful lot of manhours in this search," Col. Leon Apple, search coordinator for the Scottsdale CAP, told reporters Dec. 27. The search "has been going on almost a week and we have used between 75 and 80 different aircraft. My men and the machines are getting strained. We discussed (the search) at length last night and we decided that we might go back out this weekend."
Joe Guhr's sister, Lynette Peters, reached at her parent's Newton home Saturday, said the family understands "they won't give up the search until the plane is found." Joe is the son of Sam and Linda Guhr; Stephanie, the daughter of Robert and Janine Stahly. Joe's mother and Stephanie's sister, Jackie Stahly, went to Phoenix Dec. 27 to meet with air rescue volunteers and friends of the Guhrs at the Mennonite Voluntary Service Unit in Phoenix. The couple were enroute home for Christmas from completion of a year's service with a Mennonite Voluntary Service unit at Phoenix. Four persons were aboard the missing Piper Comanche: the Guhrs, the pilot, Roy Slaybaugh, Phoenix, and Darlis Clemens, Ithica, [sic]N.Y.
Slaybaugh was not a professional pilot and did not have radio contact with anyone after take-off. The plane was rented. Apple, search coordinator, told reporters Dec. 27, "From the information we have received we don't think they made it out of Arizona, but you never know."
The searchers have concentrated on the northeastern section of Arizona, from Show Lo to St. John's, where the densley forested mountains already had two to three feet of snow, before the weekend storm. An official at the Air Force Rescue center at Scott AFB said Saturday "We have not suspended the search. The weather is holding us back this weekend." The Air Force official could not say what search plans may involve once the storm dissipates.
Published in the Hutchinson News on Sunday, December 31, 1978 - Page 3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hope fades for former Newton couple
NEWTON (HNS) — Two weeks ago a single-engine plane carrying two 21- year-old former Newton residents and two other persons disappeared. The plane has not been found.
The search has been suspended because, as one of the search organizers said, it is a lost cause. The couples' parents, all of whom live in Newton, have hoped that their children would be found, but that hope apparently is beginning to waver — at least for one of them.
Joe and Stephanie Guhr, formerly of Newton; pilot Roy Slaybaugh, and another passenger, Darlis Clemens, of Ithica, [sic]N.Y., took off from a Scottsdale, Ariz, airport the night of Dec. 20. They were going to fly to Amarillo, Tex., to refuel and then on to Newton for Christmas. The plane never appeared in Amarillo.
Samuel Guhr, Joe's father, said Tuesday night he sometimes thinks his son and daughter-in-law might be alive, and other times he doesn't know how they could be. "We don't know what will happen," Guhr said. "Sometimes I get the feeling they are gone. "We are praying that they are not hurt too bad. If they are hurt so bad how are they going to do it (survive)? There's deep snow."
When the craft disappeared, Scottsdale Civil Patrol search coordinator Leon Appei said, "There was about a foot of snow in the area where authorities think the plane might have gone down near Green's Peak in eastern Arizona.
Guhr's wife, Linda, went to Arizona a week ago to talk with CAP air rescue volunteers and to visit friends of the young couple at the Mennonite Voluntary Service Unit in Phoenix, where the two worked.
Jacque Stahly, Stephanie Guhr's sister, also went along. The two went up in a search plane during their visit. They also met Slaybaugh's mother, who saw the four off at the airport Dec. 20. They returned Sunday.
"They said it just looked like looking for the needle in a haystack for the plane," Guhr said. Stephanie Guhr's parents are Mr.and Mrs. Robert Stahly.
Published in The Salina Journal on Thursday, January 4, 1979 --Page 10