A service Tuesday will allow friends and former co-workers an opportunity to offer prayers for the Dutler family, which was involved in a fatal traffic accident in New Mexico March 8.

David Dutler, former director of campus recreation at Eastern who retired in 1999, was killed in a 14-vehicle pile-up on Interstate 40 in New Mexico. His wife Janet, a retired dining services employee, was severely injured in the crash and remains in intensive care at a New Mexico hospital, Holly Walters, a campus minister at the Newman Catholic Center, said Friday.

The center, located at 500 Roosevelt Ave., will host a prayer service for the Dutlers, both Charleston residents and members of the Newman community, at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Walters said.

The Dutlers’ two sons, Mike, of the Chicago area, and Steve, of Kenosha, Wis., remain in New Mexico with their mother, Walters said. As of yet, no funeral arrangements have been made for Mr. Dutler, who oversaw the Student Recreation Center from its inception in 1991 until his retirement in May of 1999.

“They just want to be there with her, just be present with her before they decide what to do about funeral arrangements (for Mr. Dutler),” she said.

The Dutler brothers’ primary concern right now is caring for their mother, whose injuries have required two surgeries, Walters said.

Former co-workers describe Mr. Dutler, or ‘Doc’ Dutler, as a jovial person and an avid golfer who was enjoying his retirement.

Ken Baker, Eastern’s current campus recreation director, said he has known his predecessor, Mr. Dutler, since 1976.

“He was here when they established the rec center,” Baker said. “So I, of course, was kind of the benefactor of his efforts here.”

Eastern and the Charleston community have also been benefactors of Mr. Dutler’s actions. He often spent his summers volunteering with community youth baseball leagues and working with Premiers Boys State, a leadership organization that holds camps for high school students at Eastern, Baker said.

If he wasn’t busy volunteering, Mr. Dutler could often be found on the golf course, partaking in one of his favorite past times. Mindy Meehling, an office assistant in the Student Recreation Center, said she would often see Mr. Dutler out savoring his retirement.

“Doc and I shared a love for our dogs, and occasionally when I was walking mine, I would see Doc working out in his yard, and we’d chat about our dogs or his grandkids, or how he was enjoying his retirement,” she said.

Meehling came to Eastern when the Student Recreation Center opened in 1991, and she worked with Mr. Dutler for more than six years.

“He will be missed. I especially feel sad for his wife, Jan, and their two sons and four grandchildren,” she said. “I pray for his family’s strength to carry on.”

(Italicize) The Albuquerque Tribune last week reported that the 14-vehicle accident was apparently caused by Lloyd Larson, 39, of Crownpoint N.M. A blood alcohol test later revealed that Larson, a federal government employee, was intoxicated when his Dodge pickup truck collided with another vehicle. Larson’s westbound vehicle was apparently on the wrong side of the road when it collided head-on with an eastbound Cadillac.

Baker said the Dutler’s were on a “well deserved” vacation touring the southwest when they became victims of the accident. The couple had been in Salt Lake City watching the Winter Olympics earlier in their trip.

Mr. Dutler was one of seven motorists killed in the accident. His wife was one of 16 others injured in the I-40 pileup. The crash also claimed the lives of two other men from the Midwest; one from Wisconsin, the other from Indianapolis. The injured came from as far away as Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Atlanta.

Interstate 40 runs east to west throughout most of the southern United States, beginning in North Carolina and ending in California.

Smoke from a nearby brush fire may have contributed to the crash by reducing motorists’ visibility.

Several messages left last week for Lt. Robert Shilling, a New Mexico State Police officer involved in the crash investigation, were not returned.