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Sunnyside High teacher Jim Healy killed in bicycle crash northeast of Fresno
By Eddie Jimenez - The Fresno Bee
By Eddie Jimenez The Fresno Bee
Tuesday, Mar. 05, 2013 | 11:24 PM Modified Tue, Mar 05, 2013 11:38 PM
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17 Comments A Sunnyside High School teacher died early Tuesday after the bicycle he was riding collided with a Jeep northeast of Fresno, authorities said.
Jim Healy, a technology teacher, was fatally injured in the crash, Fresno Unified spokeswoman Susan Bedi said.
Healy, 55, of Fresno, was riding a custom road bicycle with a group of other bicyclists about 5:35 a.m. on Auberry Road about a mile north of Copper Avenue when the crash happened, the California Highway Patrol said.
About 14 bicyclists meet at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday mornings at Auberry and Copper, said group member Nathan Magsig.
Magsig, a Clovis City Council member, said he was near the front of the line of bicyclists, and Healy was toward the back. Magsig did not see the crash, which happened close to where Auberry curves to the right.
Jim Healy, Sunnyside High School technology teacher. "I feel bad for the driver, and I feel bad for Jim and his family," he said. "It was just a terrible accident."
Joshua Fitch, 50, of Clovis was driving a 2001 Jeep Wrangler north on Auberry Road when he came upon the bicyclists, who also were northbound, the CHP said. Fitch slowed his Jeep to about 50 mph and moved to the left to put some space between his Jeep and the bicyclists.
As Fitch was passing the bicyclists, Healy veered into the path of the Jeep, the CHP said. Fitch tried to avoid the collision, but the Jeep struck Healy and his bicycle, the CHP said.
Healy sustained major injuries and was taken to Community Regional Medical Center, where he died, the CHP said.
Healy, a longtime Fresno Unified teacher, was in his seventh year of teaching at Sunnyside High, Bedi said.
"He was highly respected by the Sunnyside High staff and administration and well-liked by the students," she said. "We are deeply saddened by his untimely death and our thoughts are with the family."
District psychologists were on the Sunnyside campus Tuesday to help students and staff deal with Healy's death, Bedi said.
Sunnyside High Principal Tim Liles sent an automated phone message Tuesday evening to the school's families informing them of the death, she said.
Magsig said Healy had been a bicyclist for at least 25 years and rode competitively until recently. He was a devout Christian who was liked by all, Magsig said.
"He was a man," Magsig said, "who loved his wife, loved his kids, loved his community and loved Jesus."
Read more here:
http://www.fresnobee.com/2013/03/05/3199827/bicyclist-dies-in-crash-with-jeep.html#storylink=cpy
