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Augustana Employee Among 17 People Killed In Missouri Boat Accident

A woman who lived approximately 10 miles south of the Quad Cities and worked at Augustana College in Rock Island was one of the 17 people killed in last week’s fatal boat accident in southwest Missouri.

Leslie Dennison, of Sherrard, Ill., died at the age of 64 when an amphibious duck boat capsized and sank in Table Rock Lake on Thurs., July 19, near the city of Branson. The boat was in the midst of a storm where winds approached hurricane-level speeds of more than 70 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

Augustana College President Steven Bahls announced over the weekend that Dennison worked in the college’s dining services department until her death.

Bahls said that her coworkers are remembering her as being "conscientious and compassionate" throughout the 38 years that she worked at Augustana.

The college issued a statement from Brad Foley, a retail manager for the college's dining services.

"I have known Leslie for the past 20 years and in that time that we have worked together she had become more than just a supervisor," the statement read. "Leslie was a great friend, confidant, and resource. Leslie will be sorely missed by the Augustana community."

Leslie Dennison's son, Todd Dennison, of Milan, Ill., told the Kansas City Star that she was in Missouri with his 12-year-old daughter, Alicia, for a special grandmother-granddaughter trip. The two had just checked into their hotel when they left to board the boat, he said.

Alicia Dennison survived the accident and was hospitalized. Todd Dennison says his daughter told him at the hospital that her grandmother saved her life. As soon as the boat sank, she says she could feel her grandmother from below pushing her upward. 

Augustana College is planning a remembrance ceremony on its campus in Rock Island. A date has not yet been announced.