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The Columbian, Vancouver, WA., May 1, 1968, page 23

WILBERT LEHTO

Funeral services will be held at Goldendale, Washington for Wilbert Warren Lehto, 24, who died Sunday in a plane crash near Brush Prairie.
The services will be at 2 p.m. Saturday in the Goldendale High School auditorium. Interment will be at the Centerville Community Cemetery.
Lehto was a resident of Clark County most of his life and was born in May 20, 1943 in Vancouver. He resided at 2166 N.W. Irving in Portland and was a student at Clatsop Community College. Lehto was a member of the Apostolic Lutheran Church of Goldendale.
Survivors include his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mrs. Victor A. Lehto of Goldendale; seven brothers, Norman Lehto of Crescent City, Calif., Robert and Raymond Lehto, both of Vancouver, Milton Lehto of Dallas, Ore., Mervin Lehto of Battle Ground, Kenneth Lehto of Glendale, Calif. and Layton Lehto of Brush Prairie; and seven sisters, Gertrude Gustafson and Sylvia Harlow, both of Battle Ground, Mildred Puranen of Woodland, Elma Andruss of Vancouver, Laura Carter of East Side, Ore., Neva Shelton of Hood River, Ore., and Sharon Drago of Sisters, Ore..
The Knosher Funeral Home at Goldendale is in charge of the arrangements.

The Columbian, Vancouver, WA., May 1, 1968, page 24

LEHTO, Wilbert Warren - Age 24, April 28, 1968, in Brush Prairie, Wash. Born May 20, 1943, in Vancouver, Wash. Lived at 2166 N.W. Irving, Portland, Ore., the past year, formerly of Vancouver and Clark County. Was a student at Clatsop Community College. Parents, Mr. and Mrs. Mrs. Victor A. Lehto, Goldendale, Wash. Brothers, Norman Lehto of Crescent City, Calif.; Robert and Raymond Lehto, both of Vancouver, Wash.; Milton Lehto of Dallas, Ore.; Mervin Lehto, of Battle Ground, Wash.; Kenneth Lehto, of Glendale, Calif.; Layton Lehto, of Brush Prairie, Wash. Sisters, Gertrude Gustafson and Sylvia Harlow, both of Battle Ground, Wash.; Mildred Puranen of Woodland, Wash.; Elma Andruss of Vancouver, Wash.; Laura Carter of East Side, Ore.; Neva Shelton, of Hood River, Ore.; Sharon Drago, of Sisters, Ore. Was a member of the Apostolic Lutheran Church of Goldendale, Wash. Funeral services at 2:00 p.m. Saturday, May 4th, in the Goldendale High School Auditorium. Interment in Centerville Community Cemetery. Knosher Funeral Home, Goldendale, Wash., in charge of the arrangements.

The Goldendale Sentinel, Goldendale, WA., May 2, 1968, page 1
Includes portrait

EX-GOLDENDALE ATHLETE KILLED IN PLANE CRASH

Goldendale friends of Willie Lehto were saddened by the news of his death in a plane crash last Sunday evening. The funeral will be held at Goldendale High School Auditorium Saturday at 2:30.
The four occupants of the light plane were killed instantly when its engine quit soon after takeoff and it crashed and burned in a field northeast of Orchards, Wa. Because there were no survivors, exact cause of the motor failure was not known.
Robert W. Vance, 53, of Vancouver was said to have been piloting the plane, borrowed from a different owner. Others in the plane were Clyde L. Harmic, 40, Vancouver, and Darrell Kreinbring, 30, Brush Prairie. Kreinbring was said to be a friend of Lehto's, the only one day in the party he knew.
The four had taken off from a private air strip near Brush Prairie "for a ride" about 7 p.m.. After the plane had been aloft a short time, it was said to have swooped low over the field and to have stalled when attempting to climb to clear a fringe of trees.
Willie (Wilbert Warren) Lehto was the youngest member of the family of Mr. and Mrs. Victor Lehto. The parents were natives of Centerville but had left the farm and were living at Hockinson and working at Vancouver when Willie was born, May 20, 1943. He received his early schooling at Hockinson, and was 13 when his parents moved back to this county, first to Centerville and shortly thereafter to Goldendale.
At Goldendale High School, Willie participated in all sports, was a letterman in basketball, football and baseball. He was vice-president of the student body, and of his class, a three-year board of control member, and a good, as well as popular student. He graduated in 1961.
After high school, he attended WSU and Yakima Business College. Since his return from military service he had been employed by Lanier Brugh Inc., contract U.S. Mail haulers, on a daily run from Portland to Astoria. He was enrolled at Clatsop Community College, Astoria, taking glasses in accounting during his layover hours in the coast city.
He is survived by his parents, eight sisters and seven brothers.
The service will be at the high school, with Ray Hilman as the officiating Minister. Interment will be at Centerville Cemetery under auspices of Louis Leidl Post No. 116, American Legion.

The Goldendale Sentinel, Goldendale, WA., May 2, 1968, page 8
"Centerville"

The community was saddened by the tragic and untimely death of Willie Lehto, the youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Victor Lehto. Our sympathies are with the family.