Groomsmen die in wreck a day before wedding
Cousins remembered for their devotion to God
News editor
At a wedding Saturday in Whitewater, flowers on the floor took the places meant for Kameron Wiebe and Caleb Neal, cousins of the groom.
Wiebe, 21, and Neal, 22, died Friday in an automobile accident near the Marion-Butler county line.
The pair was in Neal’s 2008 Honda, with Neal driving, as the car crossed into the county on Timber Rd., paved on the Butler side but gravel on the Marion side.
According to deputy Mike Ottensmeier, Neal lost control of the car, which went into the left ditch, struck a power pole and flipped onto its roof. Both men were pronounced dead at the scene.
“Family found them and called 911,” Ottensmeier said. “The vehicle had severe damage to the driver’s side and roof area. It was just a sad scene.”
Ottensmeier said excessive speed was a factor.
“Somehow we need to get drivers to remember to slow down on gravel roads,” he said.
Wiebe, a 2014 graduate of Berean Academy, was a gifted athlete, playing soccer, basketball, and track. He attended Calvary University, a Christian school in Kansas City, Missouri, and was scheduled to leave Monday on a mission trip to Mongolia.
Neal was salutatorian of his 2014 graduating class at Waxahachie High School in Waxahachie, Texas, where he was drum major and received multiple all-state band recognitions. He was active as a leader and musican at Waxahachie Bible Church.
A student at Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Neal planned to go on to seminary to be a worship leader.
Joyful pictures of the wedding of Tyler Busenitz and Shelby Mork were posted online Sunday by Newton photographer Paula Graves Unruh, who commented, “God indeed filled their hearts with joy even in the midst of intense sorrow.
Sorrow and joy also were comingled in many tributes from family, friends, classmates, and others that acknowledged each victim’s Christian faith and leadership.
A tribute written by Wiebe’s family and addressed to him described him as a “content young man” throughout his life and said he and his cousins were “inseparable best friends.”
His two years at Calvary University were filled with personal growth, love, and a deepening of his faith, the tribute said. It ended with a final affirmation of the family’s faith:
“God had the perfect plan for you, Kameron, and a future and hope far beyond anything we could have ever dreamed or desired for you. We know you are loving the plan God had in store for you. We love you, Kameron Dean, and we cannot wait to see you again! Until heaven… your loving family.”
Visitation for Wiebe was Tuesday at Emmaus Mennonite Church in Whitewater, with services scheduled for 10:30 today, also at the church.
Visitation and services for Neal will be Saturday and Sunday at Waxahachie Bible Church in Waxahachie.