Scribner, James A. (6/30/1978)

From our 30th reunion memorial service
James Scribner was a government major, in Alpha Chi, and played tennis and squash. He and his father were en route to their home in Helena, Montana, the summer before our graduation, when their charter plane crashed, killing them both.

Dartmouth Press Release

DARTMOUTH SENIOR KILLED IN PLANE CRASH

Hanover – James A. Scribner, a senior at Dartmouth College from Helena, Mont., was killed Friday June 30, 1978, when the private plane piloted by his father crashed during an attempted emergency landing at a field at Bozeman, Mont. His father, Arthur W. Scribner, a lawyer in Helena, was also killed in the crash.

The Dartmouth student, who was a government major and member of Alpha Chi Alpha fraternity, was en route home for a vacation term. He had flown by commercial aircraft to Billings, Mont., where he was met by his father, who holds a private pilot’s license.

During their flight to Helena, the plane was forced down in Bozeman by severe winds and rains. Just as the plane touched down, it was flipped by a particularly sharp gust of wind and exploded, killing both occupants, according to the report received by Dartmouth Dean of Students John E. Hanson.

James Scribner prepared for Dartmouth at Capital High School in Helena. He was valedictorian of his high school class of ’75, class president in both his sophomore and senior years, vice president of the national honor society, treasurer of the Capital Athletic Club, a member of the German Club and a debater. He also played as first seed on the tennis team there.

At Dartmouth, he also played tennis and squash, and participated in the Foreign Study Program in Salamanca, Spain during the fall term of 1976, for which he received a citation from Robert H. Russell, Professor of Romance Languages and Literatures. Russell indicated that Jim’s “achievement and level of proficiency are superlative. His uninterrupted hard work and unflagging enthusiasm and inexhaustible intellectual curiosity have earned him this citation”. Jim was also president of the Spanish Club at Dartmouth in 1977

He is survived by his mother, Mrs. Nancy Low King, and younger brother William L. Scribner, both of Omaha, Neb., and a cousin Letitia Pemberton of Omaha, Neb., also a member of the Class of 1979 at Dartmouth.

Scholarship Memorial

In honor of Jim’s achievement in his Spanish studies, his mother, Mrs. Nancy King, instituted the JAMES A. SCRIBNER 1979 MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP. The scholarship continues to exist, over 20 years since it was instituted.

In memory of James Scribner, the Class of 1979 has purchased the following book for Baker Library:

Suarez, T., Shedding the Veil