Avon to Hold Memorial Service on 10th Anniversary of Deadly Crash

Avon officials have planned a service of remembrance in honor of four people who died in a crash at the bottom of Avon Mountain 10 years ago this week.

Maureen Edlund, Barbara Bongiovanni, Chip Stotler and Abdulraheem Naafi died the day of the crash July 29, 2005.

A fourth person, Torrington resident Frank Juan, was paralyzed and died three years later. His family says the crash precipitated his death.

Juan, a softball player and umpire in Waterbury, was driving a commuter bus when a flatbed dump truck driven by Naafi came smashing through the intersection.

The truck's brakes failed. Truck owner David Wilcox had canceled the vehicle's insurance.

Avon officials said the memory of the crash remains fresh in the minds of residents and first responders.

"Our folks from the fire department think about that a lot of time whenever they're going through the intersection," said the Avon fire marshal, Jamie DiPace, who served as fire chief 10 years ago. "We go through the intersection hundreds of times a year and it's always there."

Now, as the 10th anniversary of the crash approaches, Juan's children and relatives are heading back to Avon to pay their respect.

"I'm going to do it. Yes. It's important that I have to do it," said Michael Juan.

"I think it's going to be rough on Wednesday," said his sister, Mona. "It's going to be hard. I have a hard time going over the mountain just any other day, never mind going to [it] that day."

The parking lot of a nearby furniture store will be the scene of the memorial service Wednesday at 7:15 a.m., the time of the crash.

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