Teen ‘was going to be a good citizen’
Central Catholic mourns Ryan Carbone, a junior killed Saturday in crash on Route 22
In his South Whitehall Township neighborhood, Ryan Carbone would be out helping neighbors shovel their driveways. At Central Catholic High School, where he was a junior, he would help the chaplain set up for Mass and special events.
And if witness accounts are correct, he may have lost his life exhibiting the same helpful nature.
The 16-year-old was killed Saturday morning when he was hit by a tractor-trailer on Route 22 in South Whitehall Township. According to state police, Carbone lost control of his car when trying to pass another tractor-trailer, and his car spun
and stopped in the middle of the road.
A driver told local media that when Carbone got out of his car, he used his cellphone flashlight to guide the driver around his disabled car. But then, as state police report, a second tractor-trailer hit and killed Carbone.
Police can’t yet verify that account but are in touch with the
witness as part of the investigation, Trooper Nathan Branosky said. They know Carbone got out of his car, and not for long —“the sequence of events happened rather quickly,” he said.
If that’s what Carbone was doing, it wouldn’t come as a surprise to those who knew him.
“He was always quick to help others,” Central Catholic chaplain Mark Searles said.
That nature runs through his entire family, said Rob Cohen, a former neighbor.
Cohen has known the Carbones since Ryan was about 3, when they moved into the house across the street. Cohen moved away from the neighborhood about a year ago.
There, Ryan was often shooting hoops in the driveway with his siblings or friends, and always said hello with an easy smile, calling Cohen “Mr. Cohen.” In the winter time, Cohen said, the boy would shovel neighbors’ driveways, not expecting payment.
“He was a good young man,
and he had values that gave him a strong foundation for his future life,” Cohen said. “So the tragedy is just magnified because you knew he was going to be a good citizen.”
He was involved in the Boy Scouts, track and field, and the Science Olympiad team at school, Searles said, in addition to being part of Searles’ group of “sacristans” who help with Mass setup.
Beyond that, he had a gift for contagious humor, he said.
“Everything this kid said was hilarious,” he said.
This week at Central Catholic is the school’s annual retreat week, when students get a break from classes and come together for prayer sessions and spiritual growth. Carbone would have been assisting behind the scenes.
This retreat week, from their school auditorium, students will watch a livestream of Carbone’s funeral Wednesday morning at St. Thomas More Church in Salisbury Township.
“It’ll be more meaningful than ever this year,” Searles said, referring to the retreat.
Carbone also worked at Yocco’s Hot Dogs, according to a Facebook post honoring his memory.
“Ryan was an excellent young man, a hard worker, and well liked by all who knew him,” the post reads.
An online fundraiser created to assist his family raised more than $67,000 in less than a day.
And soon he’ll be memorialized on a bench that sits in front of the high school on Fourth Street in Allentown. It was an Eagle Scout project from 2016, Searles said, and it is engraved with the names of students who died before graduation day. It sits in a memorial garden next to a statue of Mary.