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Oklahoma State To Hold Memorial For Crash Victims

Oklahoma State students, faculty and staff are gathering to remember four people — including two women’s basketball coaches — killed in an airplane crash in central Arkansas.

A memorial service will be held Monday afternoon at Gallagher-Iba Arena on the Stillwater campus for head basketball coach Kurt Budke, assistant coach Miranda Serna, alumnus Olin Branstetter and his wife, Paula.

Branstetter was piloting the single-engine plane when it crashed Thursday afternoon near Perryville. The flight was en route to Little Rock, where Budke and Serna were going to watch prospective recruits play at a game.

The 50-year-old Budke is a Salina native, and graduate of Salina Sacred Heart High School. He had been the coach at Oklahoma State since 2005. Prior to that he coached at Allen County Community College and Trinity Valley Community College, and was an assistant coach at Louisiana Tech.

Budke family members, including Kurt’s parents, still live in Salina.

The deaths come 10 years after a plane crash that killed 10 people associated with the men’s basketball program.

OSU spokesman Gary Shutt says school officials will take another look at the travel policy.

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