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Mother of two Analy High students dies in traffic accident
Victim was driving daughter home from school
by Nathan Wright
Sonoma West Staff Writer
A woman driving her daughter home from Analy High School was killed Sept. 14 in an auto accident on Llano Road after her car was sideswiped by another motorist authorities believe was driving drunk.
Kathy O’Daniel, 52, was pronounced dead at the scene while her 15-year-old daughter Kelcee O’Daniel was rushed to a nearby hospital.
The O’Daniels were driving home after Kelcee’s volleyball practice when their 1998 Honda Civic was sideswiped by a woman driving a 2002 Jeep Liberty at 5:20 p.m.
Judy Shafer, 55, was later arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and on Tuesday was charged with multiple felonies including gross vehicular manslaughter by the Sonoma County District Attorney’s office.
Shafer, a Forestville resident, remained in a Sonoma County hospital on Tuesday and is expected to face charges at her Sept. 29 arraignment, according to a District Attorney spokesperson.
Kelcee O’Daniel was released Friday from Kaiser Hospital after suffering injuries to her spleen and wrist but is expected to make a full recovery.
“Considering the severity of the accident we’re blessed that she’s doing so well,” said Chuck O’Daniel, Kathy’s husband and Kelcee’s father. “She’s going back to school [Sept. 22].”
The O’Daniel family announced this week that services would be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26 at Calvary Chapel of Petaluma. The memorial is open to the public.
O’Daniel was a mother of five — including a son and daughter at Analy — and worked as a professional teacher’s aide at Brooks Elementary School in Windsor.
Chuck said his wife was a longtime educator, loved children and served as a second parent to many of her five children’s friends. She regularly volunteered at her children’s schools and was often offered paid jobs. “She would work wherever they needed her,” said Chuck. “She’ll be remembered as a servant who served people joyfully. She had a tremendous gift and her friends were always on her mind.”
The news came just days after the Windsor School District learned Windsor Oaks Academy student Will Landrum had died in a car accident on Sept. 1 and former board member Marv Stubbs passed away from cancer on Sept. 9.
District superintendent Steve Herrington said losing a student or an educator in a car accident is rare and losing two is nearly unheard of.
“We lost a teacher, a student and a former board member, all within two weeks,” he said. “I’ve never had this happen before. Our counseling staff has been very busy.”
Brooks Elementary School Principal Shannyn Vehmeyer said O’Daniel had joined the staff in August on the school’s Special Day Class with 10 to 15 students.
“When we found out, we went in and sat the kids down and had a roundtable discussion,” she said. “We brought in the school psychologist, the speech and language therapist and the welfare and attendance clerk and asked the kids how they were feeling. After we had talked it out and cried a lot the students chose to draw a picture, write a letter, or somehow communicate their thoughts to the family.”
Vehmeyer said this was the first time in her 14 years at Brooks that the school had lost someone in an auto accident.
“It’s a difficult situation to be in,” she said. “As a staff we sent a donation to their home and a card. We’re staying out of the way, letting them know we’re thinking about them.”
Kathy O’Daniel, 52, was pronounced dead at the scene while her 15-year-old daughter Kelcee O’Daniel was rushed to a nearby hospital.
The O’Daniels were driving home after Kelcee’s volleyball practice when their 1998 Honda Civic was sideswiped by a woman driving a 2002 Jeep Liberty at 5:20 p.m.
Judy Shafer, 55, was later arrested on suspicion of drunk driving and on Tuesday was charged with multiple felonies including gross vehicular manslaughter by the Sonoma County District Attorney’s office.
Shafer, a Forestville resident, remained in a Sonoma County hospital on Tuesday and is expected to face charges at her Sept. 29 arraignment, according to a District Attorney spokesperson.
Kelcee O’Daniel was released Friday from Kaiser Hospital after suffering injuries to her spleen and wrist but is expected to make a full recovery.
“Considering the severity of the accident we’re blessed that she’s doing so well,” said Chuck O’Daniel, Kathy’s husband and Kelcee’s father. “She’s going back to school [Sept. 22].”
The O’Daniel family announced this week that services would be held at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Sept. 26 at Calvary Chapel of Petaluma. The memorial is open to the public.
O’Daniel was a mother of five — including a son and daughter at Analy — and worked as a professional teacher’s aide at Brooks Elementary School in Windsor.
Chuck said his wife was a longtime educator, loved children and served as a second parent to many of her five children’s friends. She regularly volunteered at her children’s schools and was often offered paid jobs. “She would work wherever they needed her,” said Chuck. “She’ll be remembered as a servant who served people joyfully. She had a tremendous gift and her friends were always on her mind.”
The news came just days after the Windsor School District learned Windsor Oaks Academy student Will Landrum had died in a car accident on Sept. 1 and former board member Marv Stubbs passed away from cancer on Sept. 9.
District superintendent Steve Herrington said losing a student or an educator in a car accident is rare and losing two is nearly unheard of.
“We lost a teacher, a student and a former board member, all within two weeks,” he said. “I’ve never had this happen before. Our counseling staff has been very busy.”
Brooks Elementary School Principal Shannyn Vehmeyer said O’Daniel had joined the staff in August on the school’s Special Day Class with 10 to 15 students.
“When we found out, we went in and sat the kids down and had a roundtable discussion,” she said. “We brought in the school psychologist, the speech and language therapist and the welfare and attendance clerk and asked the kids how they were feeling. After we had talked it out and cried a lot the students chose to draw a picture, write a letter, or somehow communicate their thoughts to the family.”
Vehmeyer said this was the first time in her 14 years at Brooks that the school had lost someone in an auto accident.
“It’s a difficult situation to be in,” she said. “As a staff we sent a donation to their home and a card. We’re staying out of the way, letting them know we’re thinking about them.”
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