For A Family Of 4

[Tony]

husband,wife, 18 month old daughter and unborn son.

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2010/11/death_of_young_family_leaves_g.html
[i][quote]

BRIGHTON TOWNSHIP, Ohio -- There will always be empty chairs at Thanksgiving at the home of Wendy and Dale Greathouse.

Their daughter, son-in-law, and grandson died Tuesday afternoon in a car crash.

Just before the accident that claimed her life, the Greathouse's daughter, Simone Cole, sent a text message to her mother that the family would have something to celebrate this Thanksgiving. A doctor had just told her that her son, Kyler Allen Eldon Cole, would likely be born on Thanksgiving eve.

A short time later, Cole and her husband Gar, both 23, were killed when their car crossed the center line of Baumhart Road near Route 20 and struck a Lowe's delivery truck head-on. The Cole's 1-year-old daughter Ryleigh, who was also in the car, died a few hours later. The young couple's son, whose name was the subject of much discussion, would never be born.

"Our grandson was perfect," Wendy Greathouse said. "But I had to hear that from the coroner."

The crash occurred in Camden Township, less than five miles from the Greathouse's home where the Coles also lived.

The young couple was returning from a visit to their obstetrician in Elyria. They were told that if the baby didn't come on his own by next Wednesday, that doctors would induce labor.

"Gar was so excited, he couldn't wait for his first son," Wendy Greathouse said. "Simone and he talked and talked about what to name him: Tristan, Trenton, Grayton, Bentley. Gar laughed out loud at that -- until deciding on Kyler. It would have been Ryleigh and Kyler... RyKy... now..."

She said after the accident they knew little Ryleigh would not survive. They kept her on life support long enough to harvest her corneas and heart valves before pulling the life support plug at MetroHealth Medical Center and letting her go.

"Other children will live and see the world, even though she can't," she said.

The State Highway Patrol said Gar Cole's 2007 Ford Taurus, crossed the center line and hit a 2006 Chevrolet commercial truck driven by Jeremy A. Hofecker, 31, of Vermilion. The car was crushed upon impact. Hofecker and a passenger, Michael J. Dipietro of Fairview Park, were treated and released for minor injuries.

Wendy Greathouse said she thinks she knows what happened.

"My daughter likes to put the passenger seat down and sleep in the car," she said. "I bet she was sleeping and Gar reached into the back seat to adjust the baby's seat and went into the other lane."

Both of the Coles were wearing seat belts and Ryleigh was strapped into a car seat.

Wendy Greathouse, who has been a nurse at Mercy Regional Hospital (formerly Allen Memorial Hospital) in Oberlin for 34 years and recently took an administrative job, said she had a horrible feeling Tuesday.

She was in a staff meeting when two EMS helicopters flew past the window. She said she had a sick feeling when she saw them. Minutes later, she was pulled out of the meeting and told it was her daughter, son-in-law and grandchild that the helicopters were trying to save. The couple was dead at the scene. Their daughter was taken to MetroHealth.

"Simone also worked at the hospital as a nurse's aide," she said. "She was enrolled in Lorain County Community College for January to get her nursing degree. The woman who drove the ambulance recognized her."

Simone was a 2007 graduate of Wellington High School where Gar also attended. They met at a graduation party in 2007.

"She was so excited," her mother said. "She came home and told me Gar had asked her out."

When they married, Ryleigh was already five months old. She was pulled down the aisle in a wagon.

"They were great together," said Simone Cole's only sibling, Shea, 18. "Gar was a bodybuilder and planned to compete professionally next year. He turned our garage into an exercise room."

Simone Cole was shy and reserved, the family said, and her husband was the exact opposite. He was gregarious and a prankster. But they both shared a strong Christian faith.

"Gar was taking online courses from Ashland University in business," Wendy Greathouse said. "He was working on a business degree.

"But that was before," she said. "Now, everything's changed."

A memorial fund in the Cole family's name is set up at all Fifth Third Bank branches[/quote][/i]

Edited November 20, 2010 by Tony