Members of the Alpha Chi Omega sorority will spend this holiday weekend mourning after learning Wednesday of the death of one of their own.
Bethany Weidensaul, 21, a Kansas University junior, was killed in a traffic accident Tuesday night on the Kansas Turnpike near Wichita.
"This is someone who you always say it's not fair and it shouldn't have happened," said Anna Clovis, the sorority's president. "It's just a horrible, horrible loss."
Weidensaul, a junior from Wichita, was driving south on the turnpike when her car slammed into the back of a semi tractor-trailer in Butler County, about 7 miles south of El Dorado, according to a report given to Kansas Turnpike Authority dispatchers.
The semi driver had slowed his vehicle on the highway, slick with rain, because of an accident in front of him where a car had overturned, dispatchers said. Weidensaul's car slid sideways into the back of the semi's trailer.
Weidensaul was the Alpha Chi house manager, which meant she was responsible for making sure other members completed their house duties.
"She just gave so much all the time, and we're really going to be missing that," Clovis said.
The tragedy occurred as the Alpha Chi house closed down for Thanksgiving. Most members already were out of town, but efforts were being made Wednesday to contact all of them, Clovis said. Funeral arrangements were pending at Cochran Mortuary in Wichita, but Weidensaul's friends were expecting the funeral to be sometime Saturday.
"We're trying to do as much as we can, and people are car-pooling from all over the state to go to her funeral," Clovis said.
6News video: KU student dies in turnpike accident (11-24-04)
Obit: Bethany Louise WeidensaulGrief counselors will be available Sunday and Monday at the sorority house, Clovis said. Plans also are being made to do something to memorialize Weidensaul, she said.
KU Chancellor Robert Hemenway offered condolences to Weidensaul's family.
"On behalf of the entire KU community, I want to express my profound sorrow at the death of Bethany Weidensaul," Hemenway said. "This tragic accident fills us with sadness, and we offer our heartfelt condolences to her family and friends."
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