- Jan 7, 2002
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Woman hit, killed by school bus
By Tim Younkmanand Crystal Harmon
BAY CITY TIMES WRITERS
A 37-year-old woman who was walking to a bus stop to escort her daughter home was struck and killed by a Bay City Public Schools bus at 24th Street and Michigan Avenue on Wednesday afternoon, Bay City police said.
Michele Gunther, of 1027 S. Madison Ave., was walking south along Michigan Avenue at about 2:30 p.m. and was crossing 24th Street when the bus with 38 T.L. Handy Middle School children aboard ran over her, police said.
Gunther was taken to Bay Regional Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, police said.
Gunther was married and the mother of two daughters, but the girls were not aboard the bus that hit her, said Cpl. Timothy Lochinski. The girls did not see the accident.
He said the 51-year-old female bus driver told officers that she did not see Gunther walking as she turned the bus from southbound Michigan Avenue to eastbound 24th Street.
"She had just stopped at the railroad tracks there near 24th Street and was turning east," Lochinski said. "The bus didn't have much speed before the accident."
The victim was run over by the rear wheels of the bus, police said.
Lochinski said officers talked to the children on the bus and will interview some of them again.
Gunther's husband, Aleck, said she was walking to the bus stop to meet their youngest daughter, Olivia, 10. Olivia attended MacGregor Elementary School, and the couple's oldest daughter, Alexis, is a student at Eastside Middle School.
"It was something she did every day," said Aleck, Michele's husband for the past 11 years, of her routine greeting of the children as they got off the school bus.
Michele Gunther was a minister, sharing the gospel with friends and counseling those in need through a home-based ministry, under the charter of Olive Branch Fellowship, Aleck Gunther said.
"We would do Bible studies and things here, and when our friends had problems, she would help them," he said.
Michele Gunther, a Rochester native who moved to Bay City as a child, was an avid gardener and textile artist.
"She made quilts, knitted and crocheted," her husband said.
He said the school sent a counselor over to offer support to his family after the tragedy, and that his girls are strong.
"They're getting through this as good as can be expected," Gunther said. "We have a lot of people who are helping us cope."
Gunther said police have not yet provided him details of the accident. He will plan his wife's funeral this morning, at Squires Funeral Home.
Meanwhile, a team of counselors was sent to Handy Middle School today to talk to students who have questions or are disturbed by what they saw or felt at the scene of the accident, said Superintendent David Hutton.
The counselors been assembled from several schools in the district and will be available today and Friday.
Hutton said it is standard procedure for the police to get a blood sample from any school bus driver involved in an accident to determine if alcohol or other drugs were a factor. The blood test results usually are not available for several weeks.
The school bus driver is suspended from her job pending the results of the investigation, Hutton said.
Lochinski said officers still are looking for information from witnesses and asks anyone who saw what happened to call police at 892-8571.
The initial investigation could not determine how the woman was hit, although it appears that she was hit by the front of the bus, Lochinski said.
An autopsy was to be performed at 1 p.m. today at Bay Regional Medical Center.
The bus driver's name was not released pending the outcome of the investigation.
- Tim Younkman covers area police agencies for The Times. He can be contacted at 894-9652. Crystal Harmon covers courts for The Times. She may be reached at 894-9643.
© 2003 Bay City Times. Used with permission
By Tim Younkmanand Crystal Harmon
BAY CITY TIMES WRITERS
A 37-year-old woman who was walking to a bus stop to escort her daughter home was struck and killed by a Bay City Public Schools bus at 24th Street and Michigan Avenue on Wednesday afternoon, Bay City police said.
Michele Gunther, of 1027 S. Madison Ave., was walking south along Michigan Avenue at about 2:30 p.m. and was crossing 24th Street when the bus with 38 T.L. Handy Middle School children aboard ran over her, police said.
Gunther was taken to Bay Regional Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead, police said.
Gunther was married and the mother of two daughters, but the girls were not aboard the bus that hit her, said Cpl. Timothy Lochinski. The girls did not see the accident.
He said the 51-year-old female bus driver told officers that she did not see Gunther walking as she turned the bus from southbound Michigan Avenue to eastbound 24th Street.
"She had just stopped at the railroad tracks there near 24th Street and was turning east," Lochinski said. "The bus didn't have much speed before the accident."
The victim was run over by the rear wheels of the bus, police said.
Lochinski said officers talked to the children on the bus and will interview some of them again.
Gunther's husband, Aleck, said she was walking to the bus stop to meet their youngest daughter, Olivia, 10. Olivia attended MacGregor Elementary School, and the couple's oldest daughter, Alexis, is a student at Eastside Middle School.
"It was something she did every day," said Aleck, Michele's husband for the past 11 years, of her routine greeting of the children as they got off the school bus.
Michele Gunther was a minister, sharing the gospel with friends and counseling those in need through a home-based ministry, under the charter of Olive Branch Fellowship, Aleck Gunther said.
"We would do Bible studies and things here, and when our friends had problems, she would help them," he said.
Michele Gunther, a Rochester native who moved to Bay City as a child, was an avid gardener and textile artist.
"She made quilts, knitted and crocheted," her husband said.
He said the school sent a counselor over to offer support to his family after the tragedy, and that his girls are strong.
"They're getting through this as good as can be expected," Gunther said. "We have a lot of people who are helping us cope."
Gunther said police have not yet provided him details of the accident. He will plan his wife's funeral this morning, at Squires Funeral Home.
Meanwhile, a team of counselors was sent to Handy Middle School today to talk to students who have questions or are disturbed by what they saw or felt at the scene of the accident, said Superintendent David Hutton.
The counselors been assembled from several schools in the district and will be available today and Friday.
Hutton said it is standard procedure for the police to get a blood sample from any school bus driver involved in an accident to determine if alcohol or other drugs were a factor. The blood test results usually are not available for several weeks.
The school bus driver is suspended from her job pending the results of the investigation, Hutton said.
Lochinski said officers still are looking for information from witnesses and asks anyone who saw what happened to call police at 892-8571.
The initial investigation could not determine how the woman was hit, although it appears that she was hit by the front of the bus, Lochinski said.
An autopsy was to be performed at 1 p.m. today at Bay Regional Medical Center.
The bus driver's name was not released pending the outcome of the investigation.
- Tim Younkman covers area police agencies for The Times. He can be contacted at 894-9652. Crystal Harmon covers courts for The Times. She may be reached at 894-9643.
© 2003 Bay City Times. Used with permission
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