Cyclist Fatally Struck on Saturday was Albany School Vice Principal

A 40-year-old bicyclist killed in a crash east of San Ramon on Saturday morning was the vice principal of an Albany high school and was slated to become principal of a school in Napa.

The bicyclist, identified by the Contra Costa County coroner’s office as Dublin resident Herman Shum, was part of a group of 50 to 60 people cycling east on Highland Road around 9:45 a.m. Saturday when the crash occurred, according to the California Highway Patrol. Shum was riding at the back of the pack and crossed over to the other side of the road, likely to avoid a crash between cyclists ahead of him, CHP officials said.

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He was then ejected off his bike and landed on the road, where a Peterbilt truck swerved to avoid the bicyclists but struck and killed him. Shum was the vice principal at Saint Mary’s College High School in Berkeley. Just a couple of weeks ago, he was picked to become the new principal of Justin-Siena High School, a private Catholic school in Napa, starting in July, school officials said.

Many tributes to Shum’s work at Saint Mary’s were posted on the school’s website following the crash. One wrote, “He made me feel safe, he made feel assured, he made me feel like I had a place. The day of graduation I felt so proud when it was my turn to receive my diploma -- he told me how proud he was of me. Hearing that from him was, great -- I felt ready for whatever was and will be thrown at me.”

Statement posted on Saint Mary’s website:

It is with a heavy heart that we inform you that Saint Mary’s Assistant Principal, Herman Shum, passed away on Saturday as the result of a cycling accident.

Herman Shum was an extraordinary educator who touched the lives of hundreds of students in his eleven years at Saint Mary’s. He was a brilliant teacher and administrator. The fact that he had just been named Principal of Justin-Siena High School in Napa for next year is evidence of the esteem by which he is held by his colleagues. The loss of such a good man and treasured friend is immeasurable.

We ask for your prayers for the repose of Herman’s soul, and we pray for the comfort and consolation of Herman’s wife, Janelle, and their daughters, Nikki and Monica.

We hold to the hope of Christmas in this time of grief.

A GoFundMe account at http://www.gofundme.com/jeh7rw to help with Shum’s funeral costs and college tuition for his two daughters had gathered more than $9,500 as of this morning. Another person suffered major injuries and a third suffered minor injuries in Saturday’s incident, according to the CHP. The truck driver, a 56-year-old Livermore man, was not injured. Drugs and alcohol are not considered factors in the crash, CHP officials said.

By Bay City News and Autumn Johnson

Photo courtesy of Saint Mary website.