Kennedy Catholic Teachers Victims in Route 6 Crash Friday

Sister Barbara Heil, a longtime teacher at Kennedy Catholic High School in Somers, died Friday in an auto accident that shut Route 6 in Yorktown down for hours.

Another teacher, Sister Marie Murphy, is hospitalized with serious injuries.

School officials placed this statement on their website:

It is with the greatest of sadness that I deliver to you today the heartbreaking news of the death of our colleague and friend, Sister Barbara Heil. Sister Barbara and Sister Marie were involved in a car accident after school today in which Sister Barbara died. Sister Marie Murphy is in intensive care with Father Vaillancourt by her side. Sister Barbara has been a beloved part of the Kennedy community since it's opening in 1967. Before that, she was a teacher at our predecessor Saint Mary's in Katonah. One merely has to take a moment to understand the unimaginable amount of lives Sister Barbara has impacted over the years. During her tenure working in the admissions office, how many Gaels was hers the first smiling face when coming to Kennedy Catholic? Simply put, Sister Barbara was incredible in every way. This is truly a great loss to Kennedy Catholic and to our community as a whole. She will be profoundly missed by everyone whose lives she touched, from her countless students in her Latin classes, to the boys and girls who went with her to Goshen to work with the Mustard Seed Migrant Ministry, to the works of art she created with her sewing machine for the auction and play. Let us remember Sister Barbara each time, with a smile on our faces. On behalf of all of us here at Kennedy Catholic, our most heartfelt condolences and sympathy go out to everyone who knew and loved her. Please pray for Sister Marie’s return to health. More details will be shared when they become available.

The crash, a head-on collision, happened around 3:45 p.m. near Curry Street. Emergency responders and police investigators had Route 6 closed for hours, leaving motorists to detour through Mahopac. The road was reopened around 9:30 p.m.

State police said their investigation revealed that 48-year-old Christina Deagan of Cortlandt Manor, New York, was traveling westbound on State Route 6 when for an unknown reason, her vehicle entered the eastbound lane.

Deagan’s 2003 Suzuki struck a 2011 Honda, operated by Marie Murphy, age 83, of Somers, New York, head-on.

A passenger in Murphy's vehicle, Barbara Heil, age 80, was pronounced deceased at the scene. Both Deagan and Murphy were transported to Westchester Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.

According to Tap Into Somers, members of the JFK school community learned of the tragedy Friday evening following a performance of Cinderella at the high school on Route 138. Many were in tears with the news, wrote editor Sue Guzman.