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2008-06-03 issue:

Goshen College student dies in automobile accident

Facebook provides a way to say goodbye

by Anna Groff

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After Goshen (Ind.) College student Deanne Binde tragically lost her life in an automobile crash on May 22, over 50 posts have been made to her Facebook wall—a feature of the popular social networking Web site.

“I heard the news Sunday before I went to church,” wrote Elizabeth Beachy, Goshen College student, in an email. “By that afternoon I looked at Deanne’s Facebook, wanting to see pictures and reminders of my friend. I was quite curious as to what would happen to a Facebook wall after an event like this took place; would friends still write? Would her profile be shut down? I felt this need to write something, regardless.

When I arrived to her page, I saw others felt similarly and had begun to write to Deanne already … It felt deeply sad, but I also felt at peace because I really did not say goodbye properly before … On Facebook, I was able to write what I really wanted to say to Deanne in person.”
















Deanne Binde, at right, performed the lead role in the 2007 fall mainstage play, “Step on a Crack.” Photo by Jodi H. Beyeler.

Beachy, who went on the Dominican Republic Study-Service Term with Binde in 2007, also wrote that the profile could serve as a “time capsule” for family and friends to remind them of what Deanne was loved by the Goshen College community.

Friends of Binde started a Facebook group and photo album, “RIP Deanne Binde, You are loved and missed by all.”

Binde, who completed her junior year, died in an automobile accident when she was traveling home to Lake Park, Minn., at the end of the school year.

The Minnesota State Patrol reported that near Woodbury, Minn., Deanne’s car drifted across Interstate Highway 94 about 10:25 p.m., struck the center median and overturned. Two other cars then struck her car, in which she was driving alone. The other motorists escaped with either minor injuries or no injuries at all, the State Patrol said.

Deanne was a communication and theater major. Along with the fall mainstage “Step on a Crack,” she was most recently the technical director assistant in the college’s May Term production, “Quilters,” and was a cast member in the spring mainstage, "Absolutely! {perhaps}."

Deanne was the daughter of Dale and Debbie (Saunders) Binde, and was the fifth of seven children.

On May 29 about 70 members of the Goshen College community gathered on the college's Umble Center stage to pray, sing and share memories of Deanne, while, simultaneously, a memorial service was being held at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Lake Park, Minn. Thirty-eight students, faculty and staff were in attendance at the memorial service.














At the memorial service 2008 graduate Lindsy Glick, of Glenwood, N.M., reads a poster with notes to Deanne's family. Photo by Jodi H. Beyeler.

During a time for sharing, Jo-Ann Brant, professor of Bible, religion and philosophy, said, "There was a quality about her that was so special. She was such a true human being."

Lisa Guedea Carreño, the Good Library director, told a story about taking her 6-year-old daughter to see the play "Step on a Crack."

Carreño's daughter fell in love with Deanne's character, Ellie, and requested a picture with Deanne after the show. "Deanne would always stop to talk with her [on campus]. The picture with Deanne is right at the front of her bed," said Carreño. "We haven't told our daughter yet. We don't know how to tell her that Ellie is gone."

Along with theater and being a DJ on The Globe (91.1 FM), Deanne played on the women's softball team, recycled with Eco-PAX environmental club and was a member of the Catholic Student Association. In the Goshen community, she volunteered with Meals on Wheel and La Casa, and regularly attended St. John's Catholic Church.

Doug Liechty Caskey, professor of theater and communication, said Deane had a positive spirit and a can-do attitude and cared deeply for others.

"She was a person who paid attention to a person's interpersonal needs and privileged the other. I never felt she was a person who put herself first and that made her an extremely important person," said Caskey, who was Deanne's adviser and mentor.

A Web site has been created in remembrance of Deanne, on which anyone is able to leave a reflection or a note of condolence to the family. Visit the site here.

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