Neshaminy bus driver, aide killed in cycle crash
A Neshaminy school bus driver and a cafeteria aide were killed in a motorcycle accident Saturday, a day before the driver's 29th wedding anniversary.
Neshaminy bus driver, aide killed in cycle crash
A Neshaminy school bus driver and a cafeteria aide were killed in a motorcycle accident Saturday, a day before the driver's 29th wedding anniversary.
John Edel, 52, of Trevose, and his passenger, Ellen Kelly, 50, of Penndel, were killed when his 2005 Yamaha Warrior motorcycle hit a Chevrolet Impala at Street Road and Knowles Avenue in Upper Southampton, police said. The accident is still under investigation.
Kathy Edel said she learned of her husband's death the next day - "on our anniversary," she said Monday outside their Philmont Avenue home. "Police couldn't find his ID because of where he kept it on the motorcycle."
Edel, who also ran a sewer- and drain-cleaning business with his wife, was pronounced dead at Abington Hospital shortly after the 7 p.m. accident, police said.
Kelly was thrown about 100 feet and was pronounced dead at the scene, police said. Both victims were wearing helmets, they said.
The Impala's driver, Kenneth Kosza, 28, of Royersford, was treated for minor injuries, and his passenger was unhurt, police said.
Edel and Kelly each started working for Neshaminy in 2004. She worked as a cafeteria aide at Albert Schweitzer Elementary School, serving occasionally as a bus aide, a district official said.
Her neighbor, Barbara May, said Kelly was "a great lady" who also worked as a crossing guard. Kelly was divorced and lived on DeHaven Avenue with her teenage son, Shawn. An older daughter, Christine, lives nearby and attends college, neighbors said.
Edel worked two or three jobs, his widow said, and was known as "Jack Drains" for his cleaning business. "He did it 25 years by himself," she said. "I did the paperwork."
He was active in youth ministries at Calvary Chapel, she said. They raised a son, Jonathan; daughters Kristina, 25, and Rebecca, 23; and had a granddaughter, with another grandchild "on the way," Kathy Edel said.
Edel grew up in Langhorne, she said. They attended Neshaminy High - "we were high school sweethearts" - and after graduation in 1977, he became a Marine Corps mechanic. Six years after graduation, "he came back for me, and we were married," she said. "Now, I don't know what I'm going to do."
Police ask anyone with information about the accident to call Detective Craig Rudisill at 215-364-5000 ext. 117.
Very sad. May the Lord have mercy on both their souls.— Wilhelm Von Humboldt- May both rest in peace. Nice of Kathy to leave out that she and Jack were estranged for 2 years.— Silence-Dogood
- If you search on the Bucks County Prothonotary Court system you will find Jack had filed for a divorce from Kathy.— Silence-Dogood
- Maybe the writer or editor could have mentioned that Edel recently filed for divorce. It would have given the tone of the story a different light.— jerryk2b
