Deane McMinn (1916–1961) was a figure skating judge who was serving as team manager for the United States Figure Skating team attending the 1961

World Figure Skating Championships The World Figure Skating Championships (''"Worlds"'') is an annual figure skating competition sanctioned by the International Skating Union. Medals are awarded in the categories of single skating, men's singles, women's singles, pair skating, and ...

. He was killed along with all other members of the team in the crash of

Sabena Flight 548 Sabena Flight 548 was a Boeing 707-329 flight operated by Sabena that crashed en route from New York City to Brussels, Belgium, on February 15, 1961. The flight, which had originated at Idlewild International Airport, crashed on approach to Bru ...

en route to the competition. McMinn, who was born in

Danforth, Maine Danforth is a town in Washington County, Maine, United States. The town was named for proprietor Thomas Danforth. The population was 587 at the 2020 census. The town contains the villages of Danforth and Eaton. East Grand High School is loca ...

and lived in

Lomita, California Lomita (Spanish for "Little hill") is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 20,921 at the 2020 census, up from 20,256 at the 2010 census. History The Spanish Empire had expanded into this area when the ...

, was a former

ice dancer Ice dance (sometimes referred to as ice dancing) is a discipline of figure skating that historically draws from ballroom dancing. It joined the World Figure Skating Championships in 1952, and became a Winter Olympic Games medal sport in 1976. Ac ...

who competed at the regional and sectional level in the early 1950s. He judged at the

1960 Winter Olympics The 1960 Winter Olympics (officially the VIII Olympic Winter Games and also known as Squaw Valley 1960) were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort (now known as Palisades Tahoe) in Squaw Vall ...

and 1961

North American Figure Skating Championships The North American Figure Skating Championships were a former elite figure skating competition for skaters from the United States and Canada. It was a biennial (every two years) competition held between 1923 and 1971, with locations alternating ...

in addition to many competitions in the United States. For example, at the

1960 United States Figure Skating Championships The 1960 U.S. Figure Skating Championships was held at the Civic Ice Arena in Seattle from January 27 through 30, 1960. Medals were awarded in three colors: gold (first), silver (second), and bronze (third) in four disciplines – men's singles ...

, McMinn was on the judging panel for all four championship-level events."The United States Championships", ''Skating'' magazine, March 1960

References

Figure skating officials 1916 births 1961 deaths Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in Belgium People from Lomita, California Sportspeople from California Victims of aviation accidents or incidents in 1961 {{US-figure-skating-bio-stub