For the week of March 13 - 19, 2002

Journal reporter 
killed in accident

Ehlers remembered fondly 
by colleagues and friends

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By PETER BOLTZ
Express Staff Writer

Wood River Journal reporter Christopher J. Ehlers died Saturday in eastern Idaho after the Isuzu pickup truck he was riding in overturned and he was ejected him from the cab.

Chris Ehlers, 41, died Saturday in a car accident in eastern Idaho. Photo courtesy of the Wood River Journal

Patricia Healey, 52, of Bellevue, was driving the vehicle east on U.S. Highway 26 with Ehlers, 41, when the accident occurred near Ririe about 11:40 a.m.

According to an Idaho State Police press release, "The vehicle hit a patch of ice, veered from the right lane across the left lane, and overturned one time."

Healey was transported to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls and was listed in fair condition Sunday afternoon. By Monday, she was back at her home in Bellevue.

Former Journal publisher and friend Dan Gorham said the couple were in Idaho Falls for a concert Friday night, and on Saturday morning they decided to head east on U.S. 26 to go to a hot springs.

Ehlers was a resident of the Wood River Valley since 1997, when Gorham said he hired him as a reporter.

Ehlers, of Green Cove Springs, Fla., was traveling the West at the time.

Gorham remembered Ehlers as "a very thoughtful and conscientious professional. He was a good reporter, he was a good human being. We’ll miss him very much."

Sue Bailey, Journal arts editor, called Ehlers "a real asset to the community."

"From one journalist to another, he was a tireless and persevering collector of all the details of a story," she said.

"Having worked with him through the years, I can say he was the even-tempered kind of person people like to work with."

Former Hailey Police Chief Jack Stoneback worked with Ehlers for all but one year of Ehlers’ tenure at the Journal.

"I think he’s probably one of the more sensitive and concerned reporters I’ve ever met," Stoneback said.

"He took his job seriously. He was the type of reporter you could talk to and know he would be sensitive to the needs of victims," he said.

Mountain Express Reporter Greg Stahl remembered a man with an easy smile, who went out of his way simply to say hello.

"Chris and I weren’t close, but he was one of the most amiable people I’ve known," Stahl said. "I think the Wood River Valley lost one of its most genuine ambassadors."

Former Hailey Mayor Brad Siemer called Ehlers "a fine and decent gentleman and human being, who I had the pleasure of working with and getting to know over the last four years.

"As a reporter, I thought he was always objective, fair and humane in his coverage.

"I think the valley is diminished by his death, and I am very saddened by his passing."

At the Hailey City Council meeting on Monday night, Mayor Al Lindley asked for a moment of silence in remembrance of Ehlers.

"We’ve lost one of our good friends," Lindley said. "He was a good friend to the city, to me and to all of us."

A memorial service will be held for Ehlers on Friday, March 15, at 4:30 p.m. at the Blaine County Seniors Center, 721 3^rd Ave. S., in Hailey.

 

The Idaho Mountain Express is distributed free to residents and guests throughout the Sun Valley, Idaho resort area community. Subscribers to the Idaho Mountain Express will read these stories and others in this week's issue.