Melville pastor dies in plane crash

A 77-year-old pastor from Montana died on Saturday, August 10, at the scene of a plane crash near Elkhart, Illinois.

Roger L. Millheim, pastor of Melville Lutheran Church in Sweet Grass County, was killed when his 1946 ERCO Ercoupe 415-C monoplane crashed around 1 p.m., authorities said.

The crash occurred “under unknown circumstances,” according to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) accident and incident report, the Big Timber Pioneer reports.

Millheim moved from Frankston, Texas, to Melville, 20 miles north of Big Timber, in December 2023.

According to the sheriff's report, the pastor was reported missing to the Sweet Grass County Sheriff's Office at 10:54 a.m. Saturday.

“We didn’t know where he was,” said Sweet Grass County Sheriff Alan Ronneberg.

The sheriff said his office contacted T-Mobile to ping Millheim's phone and get details on his whereabouts. The sheriff's office then received a call from the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center, which said they were working with the Civil Air Patrol to find Millheim.

Bill Donald, a member of Melville Lutheran Church, said he visited Millheim's wife, Jean Bay, on Saturday morning.

“We visited Jean on Saturday morning, the day after he was supposed to be back,” Donald said. “He wasn't answering his phone and she started to worry.”

“As far as I know, Roger's wife was the only person who knew he wanted to buy the plane,” Donald said, explaining that the pastor had made a trip to buy the plane he crashed.

A public sales listing shows that the 1946 Ercoupe 415-C monoplane was for sale on June 6 in Big Rapids, Michigan, for $30,000.

“Roger loved flying, had been flying since he was 18 and had owned an airplane for most of his life,” Donald said. “He felt lost without his airplane and wanted to get back into it.”

Millheim purchased the 1946 ERCO Ercoupe 415-C monoplane, a light aircraft first produced before World War II, apparently from a seller in Michigan.

“We are so sad to lose him. He was with us for such a short time,” said Judge Jessie Connolly, a member of the Melville Lutheran Church, which has about 50 members.

Connolly said Millheim embodied the pioneer spirit by moving from Texas to Montana in the middle of winter to preach and minister.

Millheim's survivors include his wife Jean and his two adult children, Tara and Tim Baker.