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Four days, five crashes, 10 lives lost

By David Singleton, The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa. on

Published in Senior Living Features

Three were college students. Three others were co-workers. At least two had young children.

In homes, in workplaces and in communities across Northeast Pennsylvania on Tuesday, tears marked sorrow, grief tested faith and remembrance strengthened broken human hearts.

Four days.

Five crashes.

Ten lives lost.

As their families and friends mourn the 10 loved ones killed in a numbing series of unrelated highway crashes since Friday, their stories have started to emerge.

Here are some of them:

Monday, LaPlume Twp.

'ALWAYS SMILING'

Tashandra Burton, 19, was named the 2015 homecoming queen at E.L. Meyers High School in Wilkes-Barre and was studying at Keystone College to become an occupational therapist, said her grandmother, Patricia Burton.

"Everyone loved her. She smiled all the time," said the grandmother. "She loved everyone and everyone loved her. She never said a bad word about anyone."

Ms. Burton and Keystone classmate Michael "Jake" Burkhardt, 19, of Waymart, were killed Monday when the 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt Ms. Burton was driving on Routes 6 and 11 in La Plume Twp. struck another vehicle. Three other passengers in her car, all students at Keystone, were injured.

Staff and students at Meyers remembered Ms. Burton as a smart, caring friend to all, who beamed with school pride. She was an honor roll student, captain of the soccer team and volunteered as a tutor. She also worked part time as a cashier at the Schiel's Family Market in Wilkes-Barre.

Kayla Schinse and Ms. Burton were friends since fifth grade, when they played youth soccer together.

"Ever since then she has been one of my best friends. She was the most amazing, kind-hearted, sweet person you could ever meet," Ms. Schinse said. "She always made sure people were OK. She was always smiling and she was hilarious. She made the funniest jokes."

It was no surprise to her longtime friend, Destinie Turner, that Ms. Burton was named homecoming queen.

"She was just what a homecoming queen should be: the person that should represent your school."

Vice principal Pat Peters said the Meyers community was coming together to support one another following the tragedy.

"She was just one of those all-around nice kids," Mr. Peters said. "She had all types of friends. And she never had a bad thing to say about anyone."

'So outgoing'

Mr. Burkhardt, also a freshman at Keystone, was a bright, enthusiastic student who cared deeply about the environment, said students and others who knew him.

"He was one of a kind," said Vika Shpolyansky, a senior at Keystone and Mr. Burkhardt's dormitory resident assistant. "He was optimistic and so outgoing ... one of those kids you always wanted to be around."

A 2015 Western Wayne High School graduate, Mr. Burkhardt participated several years in the Envirothon, a competition that tests the environmental knowledge of teams of students from area school districts.

Jamie Knecht, coordinator of the Envirothon, and Sarah Hall-Bagdonas, a former forest specialist with the Wayne County Conservation District who worked with Mr. Burkhardt's team, said he had a deep passion for saving the environment.

"Most of the kids who participate are great kids. There are a couple who really stick out," Ms. Knecht said. "He was very energetic and very interested in the environment. ... He was a hard worker, no matter what the endeavor."

Ms. Hall-Bagdonas echoed that sentiment.

"He really stood out amongst his peers in being involved with the environment and conservation," she. "It's such a tragic loss of such a promising young man."

Katharine Dodge saw that potential this summer, when Mr. Burkhardt worked on conducting energy assessments on homes for Sustainable Energy Education and Development Support, a group committed to energy conservation.

"His leadership skills, dedication and willingness to work hard were exemplary," Ms. Dodge said.

Mr. Burkhardt enrolled at Keystone in August as a wildlife biology major. Kayleigh Delfino, an adjunct professor in the college's science division, said Mr. Burkhardt recently changed his major to psychology because he wanted to help people.

"No matter what he did he could see the positive," she said, adding that when student were down about a hard test or bad grade, he would "sit them down and talk to them about it."

"Jake was a phenomenal, outgoing, fun and extremely energetic and very bright young adult," Ms. Delfino said.

On Sunday, he was scheduled to join the college's cheerleading team as a fill-in for a member who was injured, said Ms. Delfino, the team's coach.

"He was always willing to help those who needed help," she said. "He would have ended up being a really good leader someday."

Monday, Dorrance Twp.

'Found himself'

James Douglas Walsh, 21, of the Peckville section of Blakely, recently was accepted into the highly competitive diagnostic sonography program at Lackawanna College, where he was a sophomore. His first day of class would have been Tuesday.

"He had gone there last year and he finally made it into the program," his sister, Jessica Vadella, said Wednesday of Mr. Walsh, who was killed Monday on I-81 in Dorrance Twp. when a tractor-trailer hit a car driven by his friend, Jesse David Mayne.

"He was excited to be starting this chapter in his life. In the past few years, he had changed his life around. I don't want to say he was a bad kid, but he had found himself and he found out what kind of person he wanted to be."

She described Mr. Walsh as a wonderful brother and a wonderful friend who was genuine, nonjudgmental and tolerant but had no use for bullies.

"He stood up for people who were marginalized," Ms. Vadella said. "He had an amazing sense for what was the morally right thing to do."

He also had a soft spot for Ms. Vadella's young daughter, Genevra.

"His niece meant everything to him," she said. "They were each other's best friend. It may sound crazy because he was 21 and she is 3, but they were. Really, my daughter is lost without him. ...

"He made an impact on anyone he ever met. He touched their lives and they will remember his kindness and goodness, and we are going to hold that dear."

Mr. Walsh worked as a chef at Tequila's Mexican Bar & Grill in Scranton and, until it closed in December, at Vino Italian Grille & Bar in Peckville.

His boss, Benny Dzurlic, said he had known Mr. Walsh for only two years, dating back to when he started part time at Vino, but it "felt like 10 years." Mr. Dzurlic and his wife, Jannette Moran, grew so close to Mr. Walsh that his obituary noted the couple "were like second parents."

He described Mr. Walsh as friendly, caring and someone he could count on to pick up the phone no matter what time of day he called.

"There are not enough good things I can say about him," Mr. Dzurlic said. "He was just a really, really exceptional boy, and he will be missed. It's very heartbreaking."

Sunday, South Montrose

Animal lover

Douglas Corey Wildoner, who went by Corey, was one of two people killed in a Susquehanna County crash early Sunday morning.

The 39-year-old Laceyville resident was the passenger in a GMC Sierra truck that went off the road and rolled over on Route 29 near South Montrose, killing him and Darrick Horne, 44, of Scranton. Another passenger suffered nonlife-threatening injuries.

Mr. Wildoner was an animal lover who volunteered at True Friends Animal Welfare Center in Montrose, according to his obituary. He loved his family and his two dogs, Sebastian and Sydney, and also loved playing with his four nephews.

A sports fan, his interests included basketball and football, as well as watching movies, gaming and comedy.

Mr. Wildoner leaves behind a large family and many friends.

Saturday, South Abington Twp.

'Close-knit group'

 

Five carpooling co-workers -- a married couple, one other man and two other women -- headed home to Scranton early Saturday after finishing their second-shift jobs at Process Technologies and Packaging in Scott Twp.

Except for the couple, the co-workers were not related, but they shared Indian heritage and were newer residents of Scranton's close-knit Indian community, relatives and friends said.

Only two, driver Bhaveshkumar Patel, 42, and passenger Silpaben Bharat Patel, 45, survived when a Lincoln MKZ traveling the wrong way on Interstate 81 at high speed collided head-on with their Honda Accord.

Killed in the Honda were the driver's wife, Silpaben Bhavesh Patel, 29; Komal Vyas, 30, and Vinodchandra Patel, 68. Ashley Wheeler, 32, of Scranton,a passenger in the Lincoln, also died.

Steven Levine, president of Process Technologies and Packaging, said he and other employees are "devastated" by the deaths.

"Our employees are a close-knit group of people who truly care about each other," he said. "We will do whatever we can to help everyone deal with this horrific situation."

Mr. Levine said the senselessness of the deaths makes it all the more difficult.

"These folks were just driving home from work, minding their own business, and the next thing you know, it's over," he said.

Some of the carpoolers faced struggles in their native India and new home of America, relatives and friends said. They described the victims as hard workers striving to support their families and build better lives.

'Self-made man'

Vinodchandra Patel was born in a small village in Gujarat, India's westernmost state, and his mother died when he was young, said his son, Dharmesh Patel, 26, at their Scranton home, where shocked, grieving family members gathered Tuesday.

Vinodchandra earned a college degree and became a businessman. At 24, he moved to Mumbai and started a business making auto parts and accessories at a time when there were few automakers in India. His wife of more than 30 years, Kalpana V. Patel, was one of his employees before they married.

He moved from auto parts into the garment industry and made jeans and jackets for several years. A downturn led to a few years of struggles, and he eventually followed some of his siblings to America.

"He was broke. He came here with zero," Dharmesh said. "He was a self-made man. In India, he came from scratch. Over here, he came from scratch."

Vinodchandra brought his family to the United States in 2011, first to Reno, Nevada, where a brother lived, and then to Mansfield, Ohio, where he managed a motel. He and his family moved to Scranton in September 2014 and settled in the city's Hill Section.

In December 2014, Vinodchandra became a laborer at Process Technologies. In his late 60s, Vinodchandra worked as a packer to support his family.

He believed his childrens' educations would be their keys to success. He also is survived by a daughter, Rachana Patel, 29.

Vinodchandra was supporting his son's plans to become a doctor in the United States and looked forward to seeing his daughter get married.

"He had plenty to live for. He was returning from work (at the time of the crash). He didn't do anything wrong," Dharmesh said.

'Really good people'

Two other victims in the Honda were also from Gujarat.

Silpaben Bhavesh Patel, 29, is survived by her husband, Bhaveshkumar Patel, and their infant daughter Diya and toddler son Henil. They married in 2009 in India. He came to the United States several years ago, and his wife arrived later, in 2011.

Bhaveshkumar was critically injured and remains hospitalized at Geisinger CMC. Family members say he could be hospitalized for at least a month. His brother and sister-in-law are caring for the young children, they said at the couple's Scranton home.

Shuresh Patel, an employee at Convenient Food Mart on Ash Street in East Scranton, who is not related to the victims, said he knows Bhaveshkumar from attending the nearby Hindu temple on Prescott Avenue. He described his friend and his family as "really good people."

Funeral arrangements for the three co-workers are pending.

Shuresh said the Indian community of several hundred families is reeling from the tragedy.

"Everybody is shocked. Too much tough times," he said.

'A sweet kid'

Ms. Wheeler grew up in South Scranton and graduated in 2002 from North Pocono High School. She earned a degree from Johnson College and worked at Tobyhanna Army Depot until recently starting a new career in sales.

In addition to her daughter, Kayla, she is survived by her mother and four siblings.

Until three years ago, she lived in Spring Brook Twp., where former neighbors recalled her fondly Tuesday.

"Everybody has their own way of remembering someone," said Jim Jones, who lived next door to Ms. Wheeler for about 18 months. "I'll just remember the good times we had."

Ms. Wheeler and Mr. Jones shared a porch at the residence that housed their apartments.

"We'd hang out here on the porch while I'd play guitar and have a few drinks and just talk," he said. "It's sad. She was a good person."

Rob Mulgrew, who also lived next door to Ms. Wheeler, described her as a caring mother.

"She was a sweet kid and she loved that little girl," Mr. Mulgrew said. "There was nothing bad that you could say about her. It's a shame."

Friday, Lafayette Twp., New Jersey

'Caring soul'

Wanda Daley, 66, lived in Hemlock Farms Community Development in Lords Valley, Pike County with her husband, Joe.

Described by a Facebook acquaintance as a "beautiful and caring soul," Mrs. Daley died Friday afternoon when her SUV left Route 15 in Lafayette Twp., New Jersey.

According to the Associated Press, the vehicle smashed into a guardrail, entered a property and overturned before hitting a tree. Mrs. Daley, the lone occupant, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities are still investigating the crash.

Jeff Horvath, Kathleen Bolus and Bob Kalinowski, staff writers, contributed to this story.

Contact the writers: dsingleton@timesshamrock.com; tbesecker@timesshamrock.com; jlockwood@timesshamrock.com

Lackawanna County Coroner Tim Rowland said he could not recall so many crash-related deaths in such a short time period. Six of the fatalities were in Lackawanna County.

"I remember weeks where we have been busy with the other things we do, but six fatalities in four days ... It's disheartening," he said.

The rash of deaths made for a emotionally trying week, he said.

"Determining how people pass away is the easiest part of my job. The absolute hardest part of the job is dealing with the families in an intolerable situation," he said.

Nettie Goldate, who coordinates a twice-monthly, non-denominational bereavement support group at Our Lady of the Snows Parish in Clarks Summit, said the loss of a loved one in car crash can be difficult for the survivors because of the devastating suddenness of the tragedy.

"Now they are just numb. Most likely they are in denial, like this is just a bad dream," she said. "But eventually they come to terms with the loss."

While the survivors will need the support of their families and friends, bereavement is a process, with people grieving in their own way and in their own time, Mrs. Goldate said.

"Everybody has to go through it," she said. "They can't jump over it. They have to journey through it."

-- STAFF REPORT

(c)2016 The Times-Tribune (Scranton, Pa.)

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(c) The Times-Tribune, Scranton, Pa.

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