‘My heart sunk’: Rural Kansas couple in deadly Wichita flight crash remembered as sweet, kind
One of the final face-to-face conversations Michael Simpson had with Bob Schrock centered on their shared Christian faith.
“Man, isn’t heaven going to be great? So tired of wondering if it’s going to rain, wondering how the harvest is going to be?” Simpson said Thursday, recalling the talk he had with his friend in his office. “One of these days it’s going to be done.”
Bob Schrock and his wife, Lori Schrock, perished on Wednesday night – two of the 60 passengers aboard American Airlines flight 5342 as the jet collided with an Army Black Hawk helicopter over the Potomac River in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday night. No one survived.
The Schrocks were farmers near Kiowa – a speck of a town in southwest Kansas along the Oklahoma border. But they also had family back east and Simpson, who knew Bob since the early 2000s, said it wasn’t unusual for the couple to travel.
Bob and Lori Schrock were president and vice president, respectively, of Premium Grain Inc., according to Kansas business records. The Schrocks were among the first growers in the Barber County area to rotate the region’s staple crop, winter wheat, with winter canola to improve soil health and crop yield, according to a 2013 publication by K-State Research and Extension.
Simpson, president of Freedom Gate Boys Ranch in nearby Hazelton, remembered Bob Schrock as a mentor-turned friend.
As a homeschooled teen in 2003 or 2004, Simpson began lifting weights at the local high school. Schrock encouraged him, sparking a commitment that eventually led Simpson into competitive weightlifting for a time. Years later, Schrock was a key confidante as Simpson began ministering at the boys’ ranch.
“Bob was always so easy about those things to say it’s just not going to matter for eternity,” Simpson said. And Lori was “sweet, supportive – she was always kind to visit with and always encouraging,” he said.
The Gyp Hill Premiere, a newspaper in Medicine Lodge, reported the Schrocks’ deaths earlier Thursday. “Seriously the nicest people you will ever meet!” someone posted in response.
In a Facebook group for alumni of Medicine Lodge High School class of 1987, members mourned their fellow classmate Lori, as well as Bob. “Lori and Bob had a home back east to be close to their daughter. Please keep their daughter and their families in your prayers,” an administrator of the group page posted.
Simpson said the Schrocks had a home in Maryland, as well as a farm near Kiowa. He didn’t know the ages of the couple.
Simpson said he had spent the day in tears and recalling his memories of the Schrocks in conversations with others who knew the couple. He said he saw the news on Wednesday night about the crash but didn’t immediately know the Schrocks were aboard.
Still, Simpson had a bad feeling.
“Man, that’s way too close from going from Wichita for there not to be someone I’m connected to,” Simpson thought at the time.
On Thursday morning, Simpson heard from someone asking if he knew anything about the couple.
“My heart sunk pretty hard,” Simpson said.
This story was originally published January 30, 2025 at 4:49 PM.
