Three members of Sabetha family killed in Saturday accident

What should have been a weekend of celebration for a Sabetha family after their hometown’s high school football team won a state championship turned unbelievably tragic Saturday night when three members of the family died in a head-on collision on U.S. Highway 75 in northern Jackson County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported that Carmen K. Ukele, 42, Marlee G. Ukele, 11, and Stephen G. Ukele, 62, died in the two vehicle accident that occurred shortly after 8 p.m. Saturday about a mile north of the junction of U.S. 75 and Kansas Highway 9 near Netawaka.

Another member of the family, Lee F. Ukele, 59, was injured in the accident and taken by Life Star helicopter ambulance to a Kansas City hospital for treatment of injuries.

The accident also resulted in injuries to Maria D. Perez-Marquez, 48, of Omaha, Neb., and Rosalao G. Perez, 29, of St. Joseph, Mo., respectively driver and passenger in a vehicle that collided with the vehicle that was carrying the Ukeles back to Sabetha.

The Ukele family was reportedly returning from the Class 3A state football championship game in Hutchinson, where the Sabetha High School Bluejays eked out a one-point 7-6 win over Marysville to claim the team’s first state title since 1997.

Tanner Ukele, a senior at SHS, and Carson Ukele, a sophomore at SHS — sons of Lee and Carmen Ukele, brothers of Marlee Ukele and nephews of Stephen Ukele — were members of the state championship team, it was noted.

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