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Plane Crash Kills Owner of Savute's -
John N. Savute and his friend Harold L. Gillette, both active in aviation, die when their plane strikes a power line.

   A longtime Wichita restaurateur and his passenger were killed Thursday when their light plane struck a power line in Greenwood County and crashed.
   John N. Savute Jr., 71, owner of Savute's Italian Ristorante on North Broadway Avenue, was killed along with a friend, Harold Gillette, 69, of Valley Center.
   Savute's is the city's oldest full-service restaurant.
   The Kansas Highway Patrol said the crash occurred about 1 p.m. near Piedmont, which is 55 miles east of Wichita in southern Greenwood County.
   The single engine Cessna, built in 1958, clipped a power line and landed in the eastbound lane of U.S. 400,
Trooper Shane Mc Coy said. It flipped onto its top and burned, spreading wreckage over a 100 yard stretch of the highway.
   The plane took off about 12:30 p.m. from a Wichita airport without filing a flight plan. It crashed about 30 minutes later.
   Witnesses saw Mr. Savute's plane flying low for some time before the crash, McCoy said. Further details were unavailable.
   Both men were active in aviation and members of the Confederate Air Force which restores and flies vintage warplanes for airshows,  movies and educational programs.
   Mr. Savute had been a pilot for years and the owner of the Stick 'n' Rudder Club next to Savute's, which is decorated with aviation memorabilia, and serves as an unofficial club house for many pilots.
Mr. Savute had also owned the Beaumont Hotel and Restaurant in Butler County, which had its own airstrip to lure pilots in for lunch.
   Savute's was started by John Savute's aunt and uncle in 1943. His parents bought the restaurant in 1951 and moved it to its present location. Mr. Savute and his wife, Mattie Jo, have run the restaurant for years, with their son and other family members helping out.
   Mr. Gillette was a retired truck driving instructor at the Seneca Street campus of Wichita Area Technical College. Mr. Gillette still worked there part time. Friends said they thought he had served in the Korean War.
   Franklin Lacy, a fellow instructor, had known Mr. Gillette 25 to 30 years and called him a "man's man."
I've never met anyone in my life who didn't like Harold Gillette", Lacy said. "He was a gregarious type of person." Mr. Gillette was excellent with students, Lacy said.
   Glenn Wichert, also a retired instructor, agreed. "He cared about his students very much. He was a real, real good teacher."
   Wichert called Mr. Gillette a congenial man who was willing to help out whenever the college needed him.
By Joe Stumpe and Deb Gruver The Wichita Eagle - January 19, 2001

PIEDMONT -A light plane crashed on a highway Thursday afternoon, killing a Wichita restaurateur and his passenger, the Kansas Highway Patrol said. 
   The single-engine Cessna piloted by John N. Savute, 71, clipped a power line and crashed in the eastbound lane of U.S. 400 near Piedmont, Trooper Shane McCoy said.  It flipped onto its top and burned, killing Savute and Harold L. Gil1ette, 69, of Valley Center, and spreading wreckage over a 100-yard stretch of the highway.
   The plane took off about 12:30 p.m. from a Wichita airport, filing no flight plan.  It crashed about 30 minutes later.
   Witnesses saw Savute's plane flying low for some time before the crash, McCoy said.
   Savute's family owns an Italian restaurant, Savute's, in Wichita, and another restaurant at Beaumont, about five miles west of Piedmont.
   Piedmont is located about 50 miles east of Wichita.

Independence Reporter January 19, 2001.