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L-R Alumna to speak about life after fatal Marshall football plane crash
On Nov. 14, 1970, a chartered plane carrying the Marshall University Football Team crashed in the West Virginia mountains, killing all 75 people aboard.
The news sent shock waves around the country. At the time, it was described by an official of the National Transportation Safety Board as “the worst (accident) involving an athletic team in the history of American aviation.”
Al Carelli, a 1965 graduate of Lenoir-Rhyne College, was one of the coaches killed in the crash. His wife, the former Marti Bergstresser, was also a 1965 Lenoir-Rhyne graduate. “It was the only game I ever missed,” she said. Because one of the coaches’ wives was pregnant and couldn’t fly, all the wives decided to stay home, giving their seats to the team’s booster club.
Marti later remarried and now uses the name Marti Carelli Gilbert. She will visit the Lenoir-Rhyne College campus on Oct. 5 to speak on “Turning Tragedy into Triumph.” Her presentation, at 11:15 a.m. in the Belk Centrum, is free and open to the public.
The Carellis met at Lenoir-Rhyne. During their senior year, he was captain of the football team and she was captain of the cheerleading squad. They married in 1966, and had two small children when the plane went down. She later wrote a book about her experiences called “Halftime.”
Marti Carelli Gilbert has recently begun a camping program in memory of her late husband and all those who have not had a chance to know their grandchildren. Called “Grandma’s Camp,” it is attended by children and their grandparents.
The 1970 tragedy also had a profound effect on Marshall University, a small college in the mountains of West Virginia. A major motion pictured titled “We Are Marshall” is scheduled for release this December. Starring Matthew McConaughey, Matthew Fox and David Strathairn, the film tells the story of how Marshall University rebuilt its football program following the disaster.
©2006 Lenoir-Rhyne College
