Erin Leary & Jason Foster- Boston Herald

Crash claimed close pals
‘Amazing kids’ part of tight-knit group
By Marie Szaniszlo| Saturday, August 8, 2009

They were five friends, on their way to buy one more ticket so they could all go together to the Blink-182 concert Thursday night.

But shortly after 11 a.m. that day, the SUV Kelly Ann Barber, 19, was driving rolled over on Route 1 north in Revere, killing Jason Foster, 17, of Ipswich and Erin Leary, 16, of Hull. Barber and two other friends whose names were not released were seriously injured.

Authorities are investigating what caused Barber of East Weymouth to lose control of her mother’s 2000 Mitsubishi Montero.

“I don’t know why things like this happen,” Erin’s mother, Kathryn Leary, said yesterday. “I talked to her 10 minutes before the rollover, and she was happy. I just know I loved her, loved Jason, loved the driver. They’re all amazing kids.”

A junior at South Shore Public Charter School in Norwell - where four of the five met and became friends - Erin Leary was a volunteer for numerous organizations, including Well Spring, a social service agency, and Lakota Kids, a Native American rights group.

Her older sister, Shannon, wrote her college entrance essay about Erin’s battle with colitis, an autoimmune disease that recently forced her to have her large intestine removed.

“At one point, she lost 30 pounds in a month and was on nearly two dozen types of medication,” she said. “She would throw up in the sink and run out to catch the school bus in the morning. She was so strong.”

Both Erin Leary and Foster were considering going to art school.

Foster, an Ipswich High School senior, was a talented photographer and drummer who already had composed several CDs.

He also loved traveling, and had been to Argentina to explore his mother’s roots and, most recently, on a spiritual retreat in Canada.

“He was a gentle soul, wise beyond his years,” his father, Chuck Foster, said. “His friends would come to him for advice. And they were all nonsmokers and nondrinkers. They were adamant about that. I never had to worry about who he was with.”

Jason Foster

He was a photographer and a drummer, she a singer who loved drama, two teenagers sharing a common liking of the arts and on their way to buy concert tickets with a group of friends, when the accident occurred.

Jason Foster, a 17-year-old entering his senior year at Ipswich High School, and Erin Leary, 16, a junior at South Shore Charter Public School in Norwell, were killed instantly in the crash Wednesday morning on Route 1 in Revere. Three other teenagers, including the driver of the 2000 Mitsubishi Montero they were in, were seriously injured. They were taken to Massachusetts General Hospital and were expected to recover.

The teens were traveling near Copeland Circle when the driver - Kelly Ann Barber, 19, of East Weymouth - lost control, authorities said. The vehicle rolled over, struck the guard rail, and traveled across Route 1 before coming to a stop at a concrete barrier. All but Foster were wearing seatbelts, though those involved in the crash have told family members that he had just taken it off a second before the crash.

Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said that the one-car crash remains under investigation, and that no charges have been filed.

“Our hearts go out to their families at a time of unimaginable sorrow,’’ the district attorney said.

Chuck Foster, the father of Jason, said the crash was heartrending. No drugs or alcohol were involved, family members said, no teenage antics or games, just a group of friends off to buy tickets to see the punk-rock band blink-182.

“It was clear to us they just loved each other and enjoyed each other’s company,’’ Foster said.

The group of friends centered in Hull, where Barber worked at the Paragon Carousel on Nantasket Beach, said Leary’s sister, Shannon, who also works there. Erin Leary volunteered at the carousel, just for the chance to be with her friends, her sister said. Other days, she spent her time singing.

To add another layer of tragedy, Erin Leary had hoped that this would be her first summer free of hospitals: She suffered from an autoimmunity disease, but underwent surgery in January that made her better. For once, she did not have to take medications.

Shannon Leary, 18, wrote college essays about her sister’s illness, asserting that it never made sense for “someone so beautiful, so generous, and so hilarious and funny … to be suffering from an autoimmunity disease when she could be so alive.’’

“She was my baby - I thought I could protect her from everything,’’ she said. “She was beloved, and she was a gift, and I’m happy I got to know her for 16 years; even if that’s all the time to know her, it was worth it. It was so special.’’

Chuck Foster said yesterday that he could see the emotions of the teenagers involved at MGH after the crash. “They’re all completely in shock; they saw things people that age should never have to see,’’ he said.

He said the teenagers bonded for their love of the arts. Jason played drums and percussion and had a passion for photos. He also enjoyed traveling, having recently visited the Southwest, and he began to explore his mother’s Argentine heritage. He visited Argentina three years ago.

He, too, had a passion for music, having recently composed two CDs.

“He was just wise beyond his years,’’ his father said.

© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.

Erin Leary

How the South Shore Charter Public School can withstand so much loss is beyond words. Alison Hayes, beautiful Alison, my Torri - my one and only Bean, and today, now sweet Erin Leary age 16 in a car. Impossible. I had to sit for a long time. A friend of mine walked. I went on the Boston Globe website and scanned the idiotic, do-nothing, callous comments and suggested that most of them stop farting through their keyboards and do something proactive.

Erin Leary was only sixteen and died on Rte 1 in Revere as did another young person in the same car. It is hard to get Erin’s mother out of my brain, body and air. Or her sister Shannon. I didn’t know what to write about this beautiful child earlier, and honestly I still don’t.

This is the trip that doesn’t end, the one that sets us apart after it steals everything.  If there is something more than this, I hope Erin can reach out and help what is so viscerally broken.

Lulu Pyne

Rebecca Solomon

Central Catholic senior killed two days before graduation

By Robert Mills, rmills@lowellsun.com Updated:05/20/2009 09:14:01 PM EDT

METHUEN — A Central Catholic High School senior was killed just two days before graduation Wednesday after he car slid off a road in Methuen and struck a tree.

Police said Rebecca Solomon, 18, of Methuen, was driving southbound when she lost control of her Chevrolet Malibu about 8 a.m., and slid sideways off the right side of the road in front of 168 Hampstead St.

The driver’s side of the car slid into a large tree, police said.

Solomon, who was alone, suffered massive head trauma and was pronounced dead at the scene by Methuen firefighters, police said.

Methuen police reconstructed the accident, and continue to investigate.

All athletic events involving Central Catholic teams were canceled on Wednesday. Solomon played on the softball team.

Principal David Defillippo could not immediately be reached.

The school’s 321 seniors are scheduled to graduate at 7 p.m. on Friday in the school gymnasium. A baccalaureate Mass is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday at St. Mary Church in Lawrence.

Robert E. Bowker-Kelly

Robert E. Bowker-Kelly

March 21st, 2009

Robert E. Bowker-Kelly , “Robbie” 18 of Hanover died on March 21, 2009 at the South Shore Hospital in Weymouth. He was born in Falmouth, son of Christine A. Bowker Wickersham of Hanover and Robert E. Kelly, Jr. Robbie was raised and educated in Mashpee and Hanover and was a 2008 graduate of the South Shore Charter Public School in Norwell.

For several years he had been employed as a food preparation assistant with his Step Dad, F. Clark Wickersham and his Mom Christine at their restaurant, 53 South in Norwell. He was an avid sports fan and truly enjoyed his family’s passion for Sunday gatherings during football season at their Hanover home. Robbie was known for his great, while at times, inappropriate humor. He was an accomplished skate boarder and hacky-sack aficionado.

In addition to his mother and step father, he is survived by his sisters, Jocelynn L. Bowker-Kelly of S. Boston, Nicole L. Bowker-Kelly, Corrinne E. Bowker-Kelly and Hana R. Bowker-Wickersham all of Hanover. His grandparents, Ralph Jonas, Jr. and Joanne M. Jonas both of Falmouth and several aunts, uncles and cousins.

Calling hours will be held in the Magoun-Biggins Funeral Home 135 Union St. ROCKLAND on Tuesday March 24, 2009 from 5-8 PM. A Graveside Funeral Service will be held on Wednesday March 25, 2009 at 12:15 PM in the Hanover Center Cemetery. Donations may be made to the South Shore Charter Public School, 100 Longwater Cir. Norwell, MA 02061 or the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation, 1000 Skokie Bld., Suite 570 Wilmette, IL 60091.

Jenna Atturio

Today is Jenna Atturio’s Birthday.  Keep her family close in your thoughts.

John, Nancy, Ashley, Christine, Gabe, Gionna and Toby.  She would be 23.

Michael A. Walorz Jr.

There is another young person buried at The Hill.

 

He graduated from Hanover High School in 2002 and leaves his parents, Michael Sr. and Betsy, and his brother Christopher devastated along with his fiancé Jocelyn Hickey and countless others.

Brendan Carr

KINGSTON , Mass. – Dan Carr got his driver’s license last week. A milestone in the life of most teenagers, it was especially momentous for Dan because his older brother never got his. Brendan Carr had his learner’s permit when he lost control of the family car two years ago and slammed into a tree. He died instantly.

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Alison Hayes

Alison Marie Hayes Age 19, of Hull died Dec. 9, 2007 following a brave four year battle with leukemia.

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CarlyAnne at the Hill

The Hayes Family

Alison Hayes attended the South Shore Charter Public School and sufferred  from acute lymphoblastic leukemia.  She died yesterday, Sunday, December 9th.  Her sister CarlyAnne was just getting to know Torri when she died.  She always reached out to me in special, amazing ways, and we ran into each other in many places.  I remember how comforting and hopeful it was when I arrived home to find something she baked.  I was given a beautiful beaded bracelet her sister Alison Made.  I will wear it for a while now.  It was as if to say… “stay close… both of you stay close.”  Both CarlyAnne and her boyfriend Parker proactively supported me along this spiritual path.  Two young people who seem to know so much… and now know so much more along with their families.  Please think of them.

 

Torri & CarlyAnne at Skatetown…

Jenna Atturio

Shane Littman

Accident kills Carver youth

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Catherine Crocker

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Christopher Lawrence

“I love my child so much,” she said over and over. “I miss him so much. I want to hold him again.” She said she did not know how she would manage without him.

“He was everything to me,” she said. “What happens now?”

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The Redmans

 

I went to sit a while with “The Brain’s” two brothers tonight. 

Kelsey Prinsen

Described by friends as a caring, kind and fun-loving girl, Kelsey Prinsen of Hanover lost her life in a tragic accident this past April. To honor her, the members of the Hanover High boys soccer team are holding a fundraiser throughout the fall season, to raise money for a scholarship which will be given out in her memory.

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Stephen Laramee

According to Duxbury police, the teens were heading down Union Bridge Road in an Audi station wagon when the car veered off the road and struck a tree, causing the vehicle to wrap around the tree.

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Angela R. Sbardella

A 21-year-old Fall River woman died and four other people were injured early this morning in a single-car accident on Route 195 East in Seekonk, according to Dartmouth State Police.

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