Serra Catholic officials describe student killed in van crash as 'beating heart of her class'

The morning unfolded in chaos.

When Serra Catholic High School Principal Bob Childs heard that a school van carrying four of his students to the McKeesport school had crashed around 7:30 a.m. Wednesday, he immediately went to the scene.

By the time he arrived near Mansfield Bridge in Dravosburg, paramedics had pronounced Serra Catholic sophomore Samantha Lee Kalkbrenner dead. Three other students, whose names have not been released, were on their way to UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

“It was tough to see. We lost a beautiful young lady from our Serra community Wednesday morning. She was the beating heart of her class,” Childs said of Kalkbrenner, a 15-year-old from Dravosburg.

“She was perfect in every way,” he added. “And we will miss her very much.”

Serra Catholic’s leadership spoke to reporters Friday morning for the first time since the two-vehicle crash this week. They detailed a tragedy that has unfurled in different directions and noted how the school community has been steeled by families’ resolve to comfort each other.

“In my time here at Serra Catholic High School, I don’t think I’ve ever witnessed close to this level of kindness,” said school President Tim Chirdon, who started his tenure 23 years ago as a school counselor. “(I’ve never seen) close to this level of … love and support.”

Chirdon was tasked Wednesday morning with telling Kalkbrenner’s mother, who has worked for five years in the school’s cafeteria, about the accident.

He started with two simple words, he said: “It’s bad.”

Assistant Principal Stefanie DeMarco went to Children’s Hospital in Lawrenceville to visit the three injured students, none of whom suffered life-threatening injuries.

Two of the injured students since have been released, Chirdon said. One of the young men even attended a Thursday night vigil for Kalkbrenner at the school.

On Wednesday, DeMarco also visited van driver Rick Maleski, who had been taken to UPMC Mercy hospital, Chirdon said. Maleski, who officials described as “banged-up,” remained at the hospital Friday. A second driver, who police have not named, also was hospitalized.

Other officials also sprang into action.

Michael “Mick” Betler, the school’s dean of students, organized an impromptu prayer service for students as they waited anxiously for updates. Teacher Tyler Gedman collected artwork Kalkbrenner had recently completed in class and posted it on a corkboard near the school’s Hershey Drive entrance.

School officials have closed Serra Catholic and all school-related activities through Tuesday. They initially closed it through the end of the week.

Kalkbrenner was born April 24, 2008, in Oceanside, Calif., to parents Carl Lee and Nenita Kalkbrenner, an obituary from the family said. A cheerleader at Serra Catholic and dancer at Steel City Academy of Dance, Kalkbrenner was a member of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish-St. Therese Church in Munhall.

She was active in her parish’s youth group, the obituary said. She also volunteered at the Appalachia Work Camp and Portals of Fear Haunted School.

Kalkbrenner’s viewing will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 to 8 p.m. Sunday at Gilbert Funeral Home and Crematory Inc., 1638 Lincoln Way, White Oak, officials there confirmed. The funeral will take place at 11 a.m. Monday at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish-St. Therese Church in Munhall.

She will be buried in Holy Trinity Cemetery in West Mifflin, the obituary said.

Chirdon created a GoFundMe page for Kalkbrenner on Thursday afternoon. Within hours — by the time the vigil had ended — 354 donations had brought in more than $19,000 of a $25,000 goal.

By midnight, the GoFundMe page had raised more than $27,000. When school officials spoke with reporters at 10 a.m. Friday, the total neared $34,000.

The larger McKeesport community also has responded.

Childs and Chirdon both said local police officers, firefighters, parks department workers — even Mayor Michael Cherepko — have been tremendously supportive. Near Renzie Park, Lampert’s Market, a popular, family-owned business, invited residents on its electronic sign to pray for Serra Catholic.

Kalkbrenner’s family, which has not responded to inquiries for comment, has requested privacy as they mourn, diocesan spokeswoman Jennifer Antkowiak said Friday.

But Carl Kalkbrenner, Samantha’s father, briefly took to social media Thursday.

“There are no words,” Carl Kalkbrenner wrote on Facebook, before changing his profile picture to an image of Samantha with angelic wings. “Samantha was as close to perfect as a child could get. She loved her life and everything about it. If you knew her, you loved her — that’s the impact she had in this life.”

“I will miss my baby forever and there will forever be a hole in my heart,” he added.

At Thursday night’s vigil, religious leaders encouraged those assembled and mourning Kalkbrenner to lean into faith for support.

Chirdon did much the same Friday morning, adding a prayer to his comments about Wednesday’s fatal crash.

“Where there is darkness, let us find light,” Chirdon said, “where there is despair, hope; where there is sadness, joy.”