Donor Supported
Vol 46 No. 11
To subscribe for FREE call 316-942-5385
www.theactiveage.com
Kansas’ Largest Newspaper
55 years later, she’ll visit WSU tragedy site
ACTIVE AGING PUBLISHING, INC 125 S West St., Suite 105 ELECTRONIC SERVICE REQUESTED Wichita, Ks 67213
Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Wichita, KS 67276 Permit 1711
By Joe Stumpe Before making one of the most important walks of her life, Elizabeth Wilson Winterbone wanted to make sure she was physically up to the challenge. Toned up and trimmed down, she’s ready now. Winterbone is the daughter of Ben and Helen Wilson, who died in the Oct. 2, 1970 crash of a plane carrying Wichita State University football players, staff and supporters. Ben Wilson was the team’s head coach. Next month, Winterbone plans to visit the crash site on a Colorado mountainside. “It’s always been a goal of mine to hike up to the crash site in Colorado,” Winterbone said. “For a lot of reasons, that wasn’t possible. Not just physical.” “It’s an enormous spot in my life,”
October 2025
Printed at Valley Center, KS
she added. Winterbone was 10 years old and preparing to spend the night at a friend’s house on the day of the crash. Her father had been hired from the University of Virginia to help turn around WSU’s football program the previous year. The crash was blamed on the pilot allowing the overloaded plane to become trapped in a Elizabeth Wilson Winterbone has regularly box canyon. attended the annual ceremony at Wichita State Winterbone University’s honoring victims of a 1970 plane crash. Her parents, Ben and Helen Wilson, were submerged her on the flight. feelings about her parents’ deaths for a See Visit, page 6 long time. After the crash, she was
Important Notice:
If you are receiving duplicate or unwanted copies of The Active Age, please let us know by calling (316) 942-5385 or emailing joe@ theactiveage.com.The money saved on printing and postage helps us continue delivering The Active Age to people who wish to receive it.
Intergenerational housing coming to Newton campus By Joe Stumpe NEWTON — A nonprofit with roots a century old here plans to break ground this month on an innovative, intergenerational housing development that serves young adults, families and seniors. Hope Estates will take shape at the corner of West Broadway and Boyd Streets, on the south end of the EmberHope Youthville campus. It’s envisioned as a place where young adults coming from foster care and other difficult life circumstances will live alongside small families and seniors. “We are certainly looking for seniors who would like to continue living somewhere where they really have a social purpose,” said Nickaila Sandate, president and CEO of
See Hope, page 7
Local history sleuth is ‘addicted to it’
The Active Age If you’re one of the 16,600 serious or casual history buffs who are members of the popular Facebook group Wichita History from Our Perspective, the name Mike Maxton will likely sound familiar. Maxton, 70, is one of the most active members of the group, and he regularly authors posts about Wichita history, sharing old newspaper clippings about the city’s earliest postal route or then-and-now photos of recognizable local buildings. He’s also usually the first person to hop in the comments when members of the group ask for help learning about the history of their houses or are curious which business originally occupied a certain building. Maxton is an expert at tracking that information down, and he loves discovering the
answers to those questions as much as the people who posed them. But Maxton has taken his love for Wichita’s past a few steps further than the typical keyboard historian. In addition to spending hours researching online, he also is the founder of a group of Wichita’s most devoted history buffs that regularly Mike Maxton is considered the go-to guy for gets together for questions about Wichita history. His research behind-the-scenes includes tracking down information on early tours of historical Wichita buildings like this one in Old Town. buildings and then discusses what they saw over lunch. See Maxton, page 8 Informally called “Lunch Bunch,”
Questions about services?
Central Plains Area Agency on Aging/Sedgwick County Department on Aging: 316-660-7298 or 1-800-367-7298
Butler County: (316) 775-0500 or 1-800-279-3655 Harvey County: (316) 284-6880 or 1-800-279-3655