Wabash Mourns
By Jamie Barrand and Sam King
Posted: Monday, October 29, 2007 11:58 PM
Patrick Michael Woehnker Jr.’s parents made a three-and-a-half hour trip from Kendallville Monday to talk with Wabash College President Patrick E. White, a day after learning their son died on campus early Sunday.
Exactly what happened is not clear yet, but details are slowly emerging about the accident that claimed the life of the Wabash College freshman.
Woehnker Jr., 19, died when he fell from the roof of Goodrich Hall on the Wabash campus. The investigation into the incident is being headed by Crawfordsville Assistant Police Chief Hal Utterback.
The Montgomery County Coroner’s Office labeled the death “accidental.” The coroner’s report indicated that an autopsy performed at Terre Haute Regional Hospital showed that Woehnker died instantly as a result of injuries from the fall. Initial toxicology reports showed a blood alcohol level of .04 percent.
Wabash continued to mourn his loss on Monday. “It is clear that Patrick Woehnker loved Wabash, and in turn Wabash embraced him as a son and brother,” said White in a statement posted on the college’s Web site. “In his brief time on campus, he was well known for his easy smile, his energy, and vitality. His band of brothers in Lambda Chi Alpha and across the Wabash student body will hold his memory in their hearts forever.”
Utterback said Woehnker was one of four students on the roof Sunday morning. He became separated from the group somehow, and the other four returned to the building without Woehnker, and were alerted that he had been found by campus security representatives.
A release prepared by Utterback said campus security at Wabash called for an ambulance at 3:10 a.m. upon discovering Woehnker on the sidewalk and bleeding on the east side of Goodrich Hall. Police and emergency personnel arrived shortly after and found Woehnker was dead.
Wabash spokesperson Jim Amidon said although it is not known for certain why Woehnker and his friends were on the roof, how they got there has been determined.
“They got in through utility access tunnels,” he said. “They actually traveled underground.”
The utility tunnels carry electrical, network, and steam-heating lines. The group proceeded through the tunnel and emerged in Goodrich Hall, then ascended to the roof of the building where Patrick became separated from the others, the college’s Web site said.
Student reports have led college officials to believe the group was on the roof stargazing.
“We understand, from what some of the students have told us, that they went to see a movie, it was a beautiful night and they wanted to see the stars,” Amidon said.
The roof of Goodrich Hall has flat platforms with safety railings that make it perfect for doing so.
“We believe Patrick was on one of the decks on the west side of the building, stepped over the railing and tried to climb a steep pitch to get to the very top of the roof,” Amidon said. “We believe he may have slipped and fallen to his death on the east side.”
The students who were with Woehnker before he died are “very shaken up,” Amidon said.
“I have been here for 25 years,” Amidon said. “I don’t ever remember campus being this somber or this sad.”
Woehnker’s mother, Wendy Wood, said she had been in contact with her son through e-mail, but it had been early October since she last spoke to him.
Woehnker was from Kendallville. He graduated from East Noble High School there, where he had been a member of the swim team, this past spring. At Wabash, he was a member of the swimming and diving team and Lambda Chi Alpha fraternity. He was majoring in history with ambitions of going to law school upon graduation from Wabash, said Wood.
“He was a very good kid,” she said.
Woehnker swam in the 200 individual medley and 100 breaststroke events Saturday in a victory over Carthage College. He began swimming as a youth at the local YMCA, said Wood. Because of Woehnker’s death, the Wabash College swim meet against DePauw Wednesday has been postponed.
A bench on front of Center Hall on campus has been painted by students in memory of Woehkner. Three photos stand below the bench and another on the bench — painted red and white with a “W” for Wabash. Across the seating are the words “Some Little Giant.” The bench also says “In our memories...past, present and future.”
“His loss is a tragedy for all of Wabash, and together we pledge to live that we might honor his memory and fulfill in our words and deeds his best hopes for Wabash,” said White on the college’s Web site.
From The Journal Review.
Here are some other links.
http://www.wishtv.com/Global/story.a...4&nav=menu35_3
http://www.wlfi.com/Global/story.asp...&nav=menu591_3
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