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Usually don't see a Saab lose control in the perfect weather we had this past Saturday - but it appears to have been the 2002 Saab driver that lost control and veered into the opposing lanes. Very sad.
Montville H.S. teacher dies in double-fatal Parkway crash
BY TEHANI SCHNEIDER
STAFF WRITER
A Montville High School science teacher was killed and her husband seriously injured in a three-vehicle accident on the Garden State Parkway in Bloomfield on Sunday afternoon, authorities said.
Ilana Jonsson, 28, of Lincoln Park, was identified by state police Monday as one of two victims of the crash. Jonsson's husband, Justin, also 28, was critically injured in the crash, state police said.
State Police Sgt. Stephen Jones said the accident occurred when Ralph Lanni, 46, of Clark, lost control of his 2002 Saab while heading south on the Parkway around noon. Lanni crossed over the center median into the northbound lanes, where he struck a 2004 Nissan Sentra driven by Justin Jonsson, Jones said.
The Sentra was then struck from behind by a 2005 Toyota Camry occupied by Stanley Bergman, 65 and his wife, Aliza, 62, of Edison. Both sustained non life-threatening injuries, Jones said.
Lanni and Ilana Jonsson were pronounced dead at the scene, Jones said. Justin Jonsson, who had to be extricated from the vehicle, sustained serious head and other injuries. He was taken to St. Joseph's Hospital in Paterson where he remained in critical condition on Monday morning, Jones said.
The accident shut down the highway for four hours.
In Montville, school board President Jon Alin said he learned of the crash through Interim Superintendent Rita Seipp on Sunday night.
Alin, who did not know Jonsson personally, informed the other members of the school board of the news. Jonsson taught biology and food science for the past five years at the high school, according to the district's Web site. She also was appointed co-faculty advisor for the high school's Science Olympiad team for the past two years, according to school board records.
"I've heard people talking about what a wonderful person she was,'' Alin said on Monday morning. "It's terrible, terrible.''
Jonsson holds a bachelor's degree in cell and developmental biology from the University of Rochester and a master's in teaching from Brown University, according to the district Web site. Her hobbies included reading, cooking and playing with her rabbit, Chloe, the Web site says.
Grief counselors are at the high school today for faculty members, who had training previously scheduled for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, Alin said. Counselors will also be available to students and faculty on Tuesday, he said.
Seipp could not be immediately reached for comment on Monday morning.
State police are investigating what caused Lanni to lose control, but the weather was not a factor. The roads were clear and dry at the time of the crash, Jones said.
An autopsy is being performed on Lanni today, Jones said.
posted by 96.57.12...
, Mon, 18 Jan 2010 12:23:20
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