The Daily News-Bulletin
( and the Marceline News, the Bucklin Herald, the New Cambria Leader )
Brookfield, Missouri
Friday
November 15, 1991
Page 1
Column 1New Cambria Woman Dies After Accident
Melinda B. Wood, 20, New Cambria, and an Atlanta driver were fatally injured in a traffic crash at 4:10 p.m. Thursday, on Highway 63, two miles north of Macon.
According to the Highway Patrol, she died at Columbia Medical Center. Arrangements will be announced by Gilleland & McElwain Funeral Home, New Cambria. An obituary is on page 7.
The other driver involved in the wreck, Eric A. Benda, 47, Atlanta, died at Samaritan Hospital, Macon. Officers did not know which mortuary had been contacted.
Miss Wood was driving a southbound 1984 Mercury; Benda was behind the wheel of a northbound 1987 Ford. The vehicles collided head-on. He had evidently pulled out to pass another vehicle. Both the Ford and the Mercury were demolished.
The Daily News-Bulletin
( and the Marceline News, the Bucklin Herald, the New Cambria Leader )
Brookfield, Missouri
Friday
November 15, 1991
Page 7
Column 1'Mindy' Wood
Melinda Beth "Mindy" Wood, 20, New Cambria, died last night at University Hospital, Columbia, after an auto accident near Macon.
Services are 2 p.m. Sunday at United Church of New Cambria, with the Rev. Phoebe Blankenship officiating. Burial will be in New Cambria Cemetery. Visitation is 3 to 5 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday, at the church. Arrangements are by Gilleland & McElwain Funeral Home. A Melinda Beth Memorial Fund has been established.
Ms. Wood was born July 21, 1971, at Macon, daughter of Larry and Glenda (Malloy) Wood.
Surviving are her parents, of the home; grandmother, Bessie Malloy, Bucklin; two brothers and a sister-in-law, Nathan Wood, of the home, and Ivan and Deborah Wood, Warrensburg; a sister and brother-in-law, Amy Jo and Darren Thompson, Kirkwood; several aunts and uncles, and numerous cousins.
She was preceded in death by her paternal grandparents, Ray and Cordelia Wood, and maternal grandfather, Ivan Malloy.
She graduated from New Cambria R4 school in 1989, and was valedictorian of her class. While at R-4, she was active in sports and band. She took All-Conference and All-District honors in basketball. She was a member of the National Honor Society, and served as a delegate to Girls State.
A junior at Northeast Missouri State University, Kirksville, she was majoring in political science. She was a member of the Missouri Political Science Club, and an alternate to the NMSU Student Senate. She served an internship last year with Rep. Sandra Reeves, of Kansas City.
