Marlborough Crash Victim Identified, Was Longtime Mechanic

A 70-year-old Milford man who died after his pickup truck drifted off I-495 was identified by State Police Friday as Donald B. Schwendenman.

State Police said in a release that they responded at 7:47 p.m. Thursday to a single-vehicle crash on I-495 northbound, north of Exit 23C (Simarano Drive) in Marlborough.

A preliminary investigation by Trooper Kenneth Proulx indicates that Schwendenman was operating a 2001 Ford Ranger pickup truck when he drifted off onto the grassy median. Schwendenman was able to return the truck to the roadway, but then again went off the road and entered the median a second time, police said.

The truck went down an embankment and rolled over, coming to rest on its tires. Schwendenman was pronounced deceased at the scene.

Schwendenman, a native of Medway, was a mechanic who only recently retired, his widow, Janet Schwendenman, said this morning. He was a longtime employee of Norman Greene’s garage in Medway. In addition, he was a U.S. Army veteran and active in American Legion Post 637 in Medway.

“He had a fabulous personality,” she said. “Everyone loved him.”

He had three grown children, and two stepsons, Janet Schwendenman said. The couple, married 31 years ago, has seven grandchildren.

An investigation into the crash is continuing, a State Police spokeswoman said Friday.

The crash is being investigated by Troop C of the State Police, the State Police Collision Analysis and Reconstruction Section and the State Police Crime Scene Services Section.