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Windsor educator killed in Santa Rosa crash
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| Kathy O’Daniel |
School district mourns third death in two weeks
by Nathan Wright
Staff Writer
The Windsor Unified School District mourned the loss of three of its own at a board meeting Sept. 15, honoring a teacher and a student who died in separate car accidents and a former board member who passed away from cancer.
District officials learned Tuesday, Sept. 15 that Brooks Elementary School Paraeducator Kathy O’Daniel had died in a car accident the day prior after a woman accused of driving drunk crossed into her lane and sideswiped her car on Llano Road in Santa Rosa. The news came just days after the district learned Windsor Oaks Academy student Will Landrum had died in a car accident on Sept. 1 and former board member Marv Stubbs passed away from cancer on Sept. 9.
District trustee Sandra Dobbins asked for a moment of silence to honor the three lost. Later district superintendent Steve Herrington said losing a student or an educator in a car accident is rare and two nearly unheard of.
“We lost a teacher, a student and a former board member, all within two weeks,” he said. “I’ve never had this happen before. Our counseling staff has been very busy.”
O’Daniel, 52, was a mother of five and a recent hire at Brooks Elementary School. Her youngest son and daughter attend Analy High School and she was hit after picking up her daughter Kelcee, 15, from volleyball practice in Sebastopol. Kelcee suffered injuries to her spleen and wrist in the accident but was released from Kaiser last Friday and is expected to make a full recovery.
“Considering the severity of the accident we’re blessed that she’s doing so well,” said Chuck O’Daniel, Kathy’s husband and Kelcee’s father. “She’s going back to school [September 22].”
Judy Shafer, the woman who hit the O’Daniels, was later arrested for vehicular manslaughter and DUI causing death and injuries, according to California Highway Patrol Sgt. Robert Mota. Shafer, 55, is a Forestville resident and was also sent to a nearby hospital to treat her injuries.
The O’Daniel family announced Monday that services would be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26 at Calvary Chapel of Petaluma. The memorial is public.
Chuck said his wife was a longtime educator, loved children and served as a second parent to many of her five children’s friends. She regularly volunteered at her children’s schools and was often offered paid jobs. “She would work wherever they needed her,” said Chuck. “She’ll be remembered as a servant who served people joyfully. She had a tremendous gift and her friends were always on her mind.”
Brooks Elementary School Principal Shannyn Vehmeyer said O’Daniel had joined the staff in August and worked as a Paraeducator—a professional teacher’s aide—in the school’s Special Day Class with 10 to 15 students.
“When we found out we went in and sat the kids down and had a roundtable discussion,” she said. “We brought in the school psychologist, the speech and language therapist and the welfare and attendance clerk and asked the kids how they were feeling. After we had talked it out and cried a lot, the students chose to draw a picture, write a letter, or somehow communicate their thoughts to the family.”
Vehmeyer said this was the first time in her 14 years at Brooks that the school had lost someone in an auto accident. “It’s a difficult situation to be in,” she said. “As a staff we sent a donation to their home and a card. We’re staying out of the way, letting them know we’re thinking about them.”
District officials learned Tuesday, Sept. 15 that Brooks Elementary School Paraeducator Kathy O’Daniel had died in a car accident the day prior after a woman accused of driving drunk crossed into her lane and sideswiped her car on Llano Road in Santa Rosa. The news came just days after the district learned Windsor Oaks Academy student Will Landrum had died in a car accident on Sept. 1 and former board member Marv Stubbs passed away from cancer on Sept. 9.
District trustee Sandra Dobbins asked for a moment of silence to honor the three lost. Later district superintendent Steve Herrington said losing a student or an educator in a car accident is rare and two nearly unheard of.
“We lost a teacher, a student and a former board member, all within two weeks,” he said. “I’ve never had this happen before. Our counseling staff has been very busy.”
O’Daniel, 52, was a mother of five and a recent hire at Brooks Elementary School. Her youngest son and daughter attend Analy High School and she was hit after picking up her daughter Kelcee, 15, from volleyball practice in Sebastopol. Kelcee suffered injuries to her spleen and wrist in the accident but was released from Kaiser last Friday and is expected to make a full recovery.
“Considering the severity of the accident we’re blessed that she’s doing so well,” said Chuck O’Daniel, Kathy’s husband and Kelcee’s father. “She’s going back to school [September 22].”
Judy Shafer, the woman who hit the O’Daniels, was later arrested for vehicular manslaughter and DUI causing death and injuries, according to California Highway Patrol Sgt. Robert Mota. Shafer, 55, is a Forestville resident and was also sent to a nearby hospital to treat her injuries.
The O’Daniel family announced Monday that services would be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26 at Calvary Chapel of Petaluma. The memorial is public.
Chuck said his wife was a longtime educator, loved children and served as a second parent to many of her five children’s friends. She regularly volunteered at her children’s schools and was often offered paid jobs. “She would work wherever they needed her,” said Chuck. “She’ll be remembered as a servant who served people joyfully. She had a tremendous gift and her friends were always on her mind.”
Brooks Elementary School Principal Shannyn Vehmeyer said O’Daniel had joined the staff in August and worked as a Paraeducator—a professional teacher’s aide—in the school’s Special Day Class with 10 to 15 students.
“When we found out we went in and sat the kids down and had a roundtable discussion,” she said. “We brought in the school psychologist, the speech and language therapist and the welfare and attendance clerk and asked the kids how they were feeling. After we had talked it out and cried a lot, the students chose to draw a picture, write a letter, or somehow communicate their thoughts to the family.”
Vehmeyer said this was the first time in her 14 years at Brooks that the school had lost someone in an auto accident. “It’s a difficult situation to be in,” she said. “As a staff we sent a donation to their home and a card. We’re staying out of the way, letting them know we’re thinking about them.”
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