BURLINGTON TOWNSHIP — It was along Route 6 in West Burlington Township where a Bradford County couple were killed in a crash Wednesday.
Troopers said a truck traveling along the road near Towanda couldn’t stop when William Wyda, 82, and his wife Janet, 79, pulled out from Steam Hollow Road. The SUV and Mack truck were mangled just after noon.
Friends of the Wyda’s at the VFW in Towanda said they are still in shock just one day after the tragedy.
“Bill was the greatest guy there was. Never seen him get mad, he was a Marine. He was just the greatest guy there was and his wife, it’s really sad,” said Joe Nolte, VFW Manager.
“Very nice, upstanding citizens, very polite. I don’t have a bad word to say about them,” said Teresa McLinko, VFW bartender.
Bill was not only a member at the VFW, he also helped form the Marine Corps League office in Towanda.
The couple were married for 60 years and raised their family of four in New Albany. Friends of the Wyda’s said they never saw one without the other.
“It’s sad, really sad. He was a great guy. It didn’t deserve to happen to him. Life goes on, I suppose,” said Nolte.
Members at the Towanda VFW said it will be tough moving on without the Wydas, but they’ll help each other through this difficult time.
“Oh yeah, everybody here is a family,” said McLinko.
The Wyda’s VFW family sends their condolences to the couple’s other friends and family as they begin to pick up the pieces.
Troopers haven’t said where the couple were traveling around noon Wednesday, but their kids believe the Wyda’s had just returned some recycling and were on their way home.
The crash has shaken the tight-knit community in Bradford County.
“It makes you think that it could happen to anybody at any time,” said Nolte.
