Lowman Hill teacher dies in fatal crash
Infant and male driver of another vehicle seriously injured
A second-grade class at Lowman Hill Elementary School is mourning the death of its teacher, Ashleigh Boyd, 24, in a crash that seriously injured her infant passenger and the adult driver of another vehicle Thursday in southwest Shawnee County.
Boyd was a "bright light" whose enthusiasm to start her teaching career at Lowman Hill "was felt by staff across the district," Topeka USD 501 Superintendent Tiffany Anderson said in an email sent to families.
"Her second grade students loved her tremendously as did all of our staff," she said.
Boyd, 24, was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash in the 7800 block of S.W. 53rd Street, said Shawnee County Sheriff Brian C. Hill.
The names of Boyd's infant passenger and the 52-year-old male driver of the other vehicle weren't being made public Friday.
What happened in deadly crash?
Deputies were called at 7:42 a.m. to the crash scene, where they temporarily shut down S.W. 53rd between S.W. Indian Hills and Auburn roads, Hill said.
"When officers arrived at the scene they discovered that a blue Nissan Versa traveling eastbound on S.W. 53rd Street collided head-on with a blue Ford F-150 pickup traveling westbound on S.W. 53rd Street," he said.
Boyd was driving the Versa while the 52-year-old man was driving the pickup, Hill said.
The man and Boyd's infant passenger were taken by American Medical Response ambulance to a Topeka hospital, he said.
The sheriff's office was continuing to investigate circumstances of the crash, Hill said.
Contact Tim Hrenchir at threnchir@gannett.com or 785-213-5934.
It seems amazing that I've provided articles for the Topeka Capital-Journal for nearly six years.
This is my 300th article. Although I've written hundreds more, they were in the service of my career in senior housing — in other words, they were used for commercial purposes.
People always ask me how I think of a topic each week, which is a challenge sometimes. But if you're a frequent reader, you know I may write thousands of words, but the themes are narrow.
In honor of number 300, I'm giving you a condensed version of all my writing.
1 Celebrate every birthday. You are among the fortunate if you've had many. Age is your advantage.
2 Endless TV watching is deadly. As my friend Roger said, “You always remind me to get off my butt and go do something!” Keep moving.
3 Be socially active. Friendships, families, coffee groups, church fellowship, sports gatherings, food with friends and anything that provides conversations are life-giving.
4 Live in the right place at the right time. Downsize before you have to. Get rid of stuff! Aging in place still needs to be done in the right place.
5 Plan for a future, not just the future.