Thrusday, December 24, 1998

Popular teacher mourned

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School faces death again

        One hundred years from now, it will not matter what kind of car I drove, what kind of house I lived in, how much was in my bank account, nor what my clothes looked like.

        But the world may be a little better because I was important in the life of a child.

BY AMY HIGGINS
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Kathy Sullivan

        FAIRFIELD — As the passage that sat on Kathy Sullivan's desk at Fairfield Senior High School was read Wednesday night, the children she was important to hugged each other and cried.

        Then they continued cheerleading and wrestling in the match against St. Xavier High School, because — as the drama teacher would have said — the show must go on.

        In the school's second tragedy in a week, Ms. Sullivan was killed Tuesday at Millikin Road and Ohio 747 when she apparently ran a stop sign and was struck by two Lakota Local School District buses.

        No children were on the buses. The drivers, Ella Shanklin, 43, of Hamilton, and Barbara Sue McKinney, 46, of Middletown, both were listed in fair condition Wednesday at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton, Ohio.

        Ms. Sullivan, a 29-year-old graduate of Fairfield High School and Miami University, taught English and drama and sponsored the Wrestlettes, a cheerleader squad for the wrestling team.

        “She was a popular teacher,” said assistant principal Al Wingo, who worked with her for four years. “Kathy was one of those people that had a smile for everybody. There wasn't a down moment.”

        Good friend and assistant wrestling coach Bob Massie said Ms. Sullivan wanted to surprise the orchestra leader by playing the birthday song for him. Mr. Massie said she was on her way home to East Walnut Hills from a violin lesson when she entered the intersection of Millikin and 747 about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday.

WEDNESDAY'S STORY

        Residents near the Liberty Township intersection said they purposefully avoid driving through the intersection because Monday's tragedy was an accident waiting to happen.

        “There's been a lot of accidents at that intersection,” said Sonya Smith, who lives on Millikin Road, five houses from the intersection. “We know from being so close that it's got to be about one a month.”

        Mrs. Smith submitted a petition with about 35 neighbors' signatures asking either the Butler County engi neer or the Ohio Department of Transportation to improve the intersection and make it safer.

        According to ODOT, there were 68 accidents from January 1988 to December 1997, the only fatal accident occurring in October 1991. Of the remaining 67 accidents, 26 involved injuries and 41 property damage.

        The Ohio Department of Highway Safety reports that 22 people were injured in accidents at Millikin and 747 between January 1995 and December 1997.

        ODOT spokeswoman Kim Patton said improvements on 747/Millikin are about four years away. A study conducted in 1996 indicated that the corner could be made safer by cutting down a hill on 747 south of the intersection and adding turn lanes.

        The study found that signs warning of a street crossing on 747 and of a stop ahead on Millikin were sufficient.

        Mrs. Smith and her neighbors, however, think improvements need to come sooner. Their petition also asked for a traffic signal at the intersection and a consistent speed limit on 747. The limit lowers to 40 mph at the intersection, but is 55 on either side of it. Millikin Road's speed limit is 45 west of the highway and 55 east of it, according to ODOT.

        “There's no good reason for any accident like that,” Mrs. Smith said. “If this is an area that has accidents that's why some action has to be taken to get it fixed.”

        Thoughts of intersections and road improvements were nowhere at Fairfield Senior High School Wednesday night — only memories of Ms. Sullivan.

        “We feel lucky to have shared her life,” said Mr. Massie, who also called Ms. Sullivan a true American hero.

        He said many students learned of Ms. Sullivan's death while attending visitation for Jennifer Evans, a 1998 Fairfield graduate killed Friday in a collision on Ohio 4 Bypass.

        Varsity wrestlers Andy Router and Andy Burd said the team had dedicated the rest of their season to Ms. Sullivan and Ms. Evans, whom they also called a “member of our wrestling family.”

        The school might have canceled Wednesday's match if it hadn't been parents' night and if the students had wanted it, said athletic director Bill Stewart. But they knew that Ms. Sullivan wouldn't have wanted it canceled.

        “The show must go on,” he said.

        Then, looking around the filled high school arena, Mr. Stewart stopped to control his tears, and added: “I just hope each of the parents here hugs their kids and tells them how much they love them.”

        Visitation will be from 2 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Avance Funeral Home, 4976 Winton Road (north of Nilles Road) in Fairfield. Services will be at 10:30 a.m. at Sacred Heart Church at Nilles and River roads. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Fairfield Senior High School theater department, 8800 Holden Blvd., Fairfield, OH 45015.

Wrecks at corner
        These are accident statistics for the Ohio 747-Millikin Road intersection in Liberty Township.

                   '95   '96  '97  
Total accidents      6     7    7
Injury accidents     2     4    3
Deaths               0     0    0
Injuries             5    11    6
Source: Ohio Department of Highway Safety

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