Tragic wreck kills Linn father

Topeka Capital-Journal, The, Jun 11, 1999 by BARBARA HOLLINGSWORTH

LINN -- Three generations of a Linn family were involved in a two- vehicle, head-on collision that killed one man Wednesday night.

Elmer Reith, 76, was driving with his son, Wayne A. Reith, 49, when they collided with a car driven by Wayne Reith's son, Timothy Reith, 20, said Trooper Bill Dickson, of the Kansas Highway Patrol. Wayne Reith died at the scene.

The accident occurred at about 8 p.m., 6 1/2 miles west of Linn on Eighth Road, a gravel road in Washington County. Both drivers appeared to have been driving in the center of the road and collided at the crest of a hill, Dickson said. Elmer Reith was driving east in a 1989 Mazda truck, and Timothy Reith was driving west in a 1988 Ford Thunderbird. "It's my understanding that Timothy had been in to umpire a baseball game at Linn, and because of the weather, the game had been called off," Dickson said. The accident caused the Ford Thunderbird to catch fire. A bystander helped both drivers from their vehicles, Dickson said. Both drivers were taken to Clay County Medical Center and transferred to Salina Regional Health Center. Timothy Reith is in stable condition in the Salina intensive care unit with facial injuries. Elmer Reith was transferred to Via Christi Regional Medical Center in Wichita and is in critical condition in the intensive care unit with orthopedic injuries and multiple fractures. Timothy Reith is a student at Cloud County Community College. Elmer and Wayne Reith were farmers, Dickson said. The case is under investigation, Dickson said.