[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 104 (Monday, July 7, 2014)]
[Senate]
[Page S4215]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 REMEMBERING ELLA KIRK, MICHAEL MAHL, ELLA MYERS, AND DR. PETER HOCHLA

 Mr. UDALL of New Mexico. Mr. President, with deep regret I 
wish to speak about a very tragic event that occurred recently in my 
State. On Friday afternoon, May 23, a plane crashed in Arenas Valley, 
just outside Silver City. It is with great sorrow that we say goodbye 
to four New Mexicans: Ella Kirk; 14, Michael Mahl, 16; Ella Myers, 16; 
all of Silver City, NM; and Dr. Peter Hochla, 67, of Albuquerque.
  Ella Kirk, Michael Mahl, and Ella Myers were talented, gifted 
students. They had just finished their sophomore year at Aldo Leopold 
Charter School in Silver City. They were not only fellow classmates, 
they were close friends, and they were also dedicated to protecting the 
environment. Each served on the Youth Conservation Corps ecological 
monitoring crew, which won first place at the New Mexico EnviroThon 
competition earlier this year.
  On Sunday, June 1, friends and families gathered at a memorial 
service in Silver City. Their recollections, as reported in the Silver 
City Sun-News, recall the three remarkable young people taken so 
suddenly from our midst.
  Ella Kirk, despite her youth, was a passionate advocate for 
protecting the Gila River. Her tireless work to save the Gila from a 
diversion project resulted in a petition of over 6,400 signatures from 
New Mexico and around the world. She delivered that petition to the 
Governor and she testified before the New Mexico State Legislature. 
Ella played the fiddle, loved dance and music, and was talented in 
both. At the memorial service, Patrice Mutchnick paid tribute to her 
daughter, saying, ``She thought every choice she made affected others, 
and that's the kind of caring individual she was.''
  Michael Mahl was an honor student. He also was a musician. Michael 
performed at his first open mic night at Diane's Parlor in Silver City 
just 1 month earlier. Michael's father, John Mahl, also performed that 
night. He recalled later to the Sun-News that his son was a tough act 
to follow. Michael was also a student leader, and was elected by his 
classmates to be their next student body president.
  Like Michael, Ella Myers was an honor student. She was a prolific 
writer and an athlete. Ella was looking forward to attending the summer 
arts program at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. At the 
memorial service, her father, Brian Myers, said simply, ``She was a 
remarkable, gifted, talented artist. She had poise, grace, and 
elegance.''
  Jim McIntosh, a teacher at Aldo Leopold, noted the talents and 
distinction of these students. ``Michael had a little bit of Elvis in 
him. Ella Jaz was polite and razor sharp. Ella Myers wanted to know 
what she was made of and proved that when she rode the 31-mile Tour of 
the Gila with a borrowed bike with me.''
  We remember these gifted young people, who left us far too soon. We 
honor who they were, and we mourn who they might have become and what 
they might have accomplished. But even in their tragically short time 
in this world, they touched many lives and inspired all who knew them.
  We also remember Dr. Peter Hochla, and his legacy of service to our 
nation and our State. Dr. Hochla was born in Slovakia and immigrated to 
the United States as a child. He was a physician for the New Mexico 
Veterans Administration, and a retired Air Force colonel. As a 
psychiatrist with the Albuquerque VA hospital, he piloted his own plane 
to provide care to veterans throughout New Mexico. He leaves behind his 
wife of 35 years, Dr. Cheryl Greene Hochla, a son, and a daughter. Dr. 
Hochla dedicated his life to defending the freedoms that we hold dear 
and to caring for his fellow veterans.
  The memory of those we have lost is ever with us, and so is the 
sorrow. We do not know why this tragedy occurred. We do not know why 
these lives were taken so suddenly. But what we do know is that in 
Silver City and in Albuquerque, there are families and friends whose 
hearts are breaking, who are dealing with grief that is so hard to 
bear, and almost impossible to comprehend.
  Words cannot alter, cannot change, this profound loss. My wife Jill 
and I wish to extend our deepest condolences. We share in your sorrow, 
and we pray that you will find comfort in memories of your loved ones 
and in the mercy of time and God's grace.

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