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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Service will honor couple killed in crash

Associated Press The Spokesman-Review

GREAT FALLS – A memorial service is scheduled next month for a Great Falls couple killed in a skydiving plane crash near Marion a week ago.

The Great Falls Symphony is organizing the June 7 tribute at First Congregational/Christ Methodist Church in Great Falls, which will feature performances by local musicians and those from other cities.

Jennifer Sengpiel, 26, and Kyle Mills, 31, were members of the orchestra’s Chinook Winds Quintet and were engaged to be married at the end of the summer. They had planned to leave Montana at the end of May.

The two were among five people killed in the May 12 plane crash at Skydive Lost Prairie. They had planned a tandem jump with two instructors.

“This will be a tribute in the true sense of the word. … A lot of people got to know them through their music,” said Gordon Johnson, the symphony’s conductor and music director.

The symphony has also established a Great Falls Youth Orchestra scholarship for private music study in the couple’s memory. It will be awarded to a wind player each year, said Carolyn Valacich, executive director of the organization.

Also killed in the crash were pilot Troy Norling, 28, of Onalaska, Wis., who had been working for Skydive Lost Prairie for about 10 days, and instructors Joel Atkinson, 25, of Kalispell, and David Landeck Jr., 25, of Missoula.

A preliminary investigation showed no apparent mechanical problems with the plane, but the National Transportation Safety Board said it made a 180-degree turn shortly after takeoff before crashing nose-first just short of the runway.