Former DePauw employees involved in fatal Malaysian accident

KUCHING, Malaysia — A married couple, both of whom formerly worked at DePauw University, was involved in a deadly automobile accident in Malaysia Sunday

According to a report in The Borneo Post, Mark and Janine Neustadt were crossing a street in Kuching when they were hit by a car driven by an unidentified 26-year-old man.

“Both victims were sent to Sarawak General Hospital, where Mark succumbed to head injuries at 1:54 a.m.,” a police official told the newspaper. “His wife, also an American citizen, was transferred to a private hospital where she is currently warded for a fractured right thumb. She is still traumatized by what happened.”

Although she grew up on the east coast, Janine Neustadt (née Ekulona) was a Greencastle resident for a number of years. She is a 1993 graduate of DePauw and went on to work for the university.

Additionally, her mother Ola Ekulona moved to Greencastle about 20 years ago and remains a resident.

Mark Neustadt’s time working with the university was shorter, though Ekulona says he worked in the office of the university president.

Mark Neustadt was 62 years old.

The accident remains under investigation.

Ola Neustadt also invited anyone to join her for a drumming circle at the Prindle Institute Reflection Center at 7 p.m. Thursday as a time of remembrance for Mark and prayer for Janine.

“It’s a means of drumming and a means of healing,” she said.