Wayne St. Teke, 2 friends, died in auto accident

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Faith urged to cope with deaths of young men

By TERESA HOFFMAN/Telegram Staff Writer
COLUMBUS (Nebraska) - Friends and family are gathering to remember three young Columbus men who were killed in a weekend accident in Wayne County.

The funeral service for Michael Konsel, 20, was held this morning at St. Isidore Catholic Church in Columbus. Services for Ryan Jablonski, 20, and Brandon Liebschwager, 18, will be Wednesday. Jablonski's will be at 10:30 a.m. at St. Isidore's and Liebschwager's will be at 2 p.m. at the Federated Church in Columbus.
As he addresses mourners, the Rev. Joseph Miksch of St. Isidore's said he will ask them to rely on their faith to get them through this time.
"This is a terrible, terrible loss," he said. "It will be years before they (the families) will get back to normalcy in their lives. They will have to rely on their faith to get them through."
Both the Konsel and Jablonski families were members of St. Isidore's.
Miksch said Konsel and Jablonski were active in the church, through programs such as Teens Encounter Christ.

"They attended the weekend encounter themselves and served as team leaders," Miksch said. "They were very much a part of the church."
In talking with Jablonski's mother recently, Miksch said he learned that Ryan was quite versed in quoting Scripture.
Miksch said Konsel was one of those people who was willing to help out when needed.
"If he could do it, he was there," Miksch said.
In addition to their church, the two young men, along with Liebschwager, were involved with the Columbus Youth Baseball Association as umpires.
A moment of silence for all three young men was observed Monday evening before all the games. Ron Schilling, president of the association, said the same silence will be observed before tonight's games.
Schilling said Liebschwager and Jablonski both played in the program as youngsters. Konsel moved to Columbus in 1999 from Howells.
In addition to umpiring, Liebschwager played in the Columbus Legion Baseball League and was on the Lakeview Legion team this summer.
He also played in the Strike Zone Wooden Bat League.
Schilling said Jablonski was serving as the CYBA umpire coordinator this summer. He said all three were reliable and fair umpires and they will be missed.
"I enjoyed working with them," Schilling said. "They were good kids and easy to talk to. You enjoyed being around them. After they got done umpiring, we would all kid around."
By serving as umpires, Schilling said, Liebschwager and Jablonski were doing what association officials encourage young people who have participated in the program as players to do - to give back.
"There's a time when you participate and a time when you give back," Schilling said. "They were giving back to what somebody did for them when they were playing. That's neat. That's what keeps our organization going."
Jablonski, the son of Rich and Donnette Jablonski, not only umpired, but was a Boston Red Sox fan. The 2003 graduate of Scotus Central Catholic was an avid bowler and volunteered with the ARC and the Special Olympics. He attended Saginaw Valley State College in Saginaw, Mich.
Liebschwager, the son of Rick Liebschwager and Christine Liebschwager, attended Columbus High School. In addition to baseball, he enjoyed hunting, fishing, music, concerts and cars.
Konsel, the son of John "Jack" and Marlene Konsel, was attending Wayne State College, majoring in industrial arts after graduating from Columbus High School in 2003. He was a member of Tau Kappa Epsilon and the WSC Rugby Team. In addition to being active at his church, he held several state and local offices in Skills USA and was active in Columbus high wrestling, St. Isidore Youth Group and 4-H.
The three men were killed in a one-car accident about 3 miles east and 8 miles south of Wayne early Sunday morning.
The investigation into the accident is ongoing. According to a press release from the Wayne County Sheriff's Office, the occupants were ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene.
The release also stated that alcohol was found at the scene, but the sheriff's office said it was not determined if alcohol caused or contributed to the accident.