Sunday, November 11, 2018

Kellen Kuhn: Motorcyclist killed in crash along with elderly couple was pilot, father of 2


Kellen David Kuhn, 63, of Lehigh Township, passed away suddenly on Thursday, November 8, 2018. He was the husband of Linda (Cooper) Kuhn for 33 years. Born in Teaneck, NJ on January 17, 1955, he was the son of Edith Jane (Altmannsberger) Kuhn of Virginia and the late Norvel Fred Kuhn. 

Kellen was employed as a pilot at Pan Am Airlines for 5 years and later at NetJets for 22 years. He proudly served our country in the US Air Force during the Vietnam Era. Kellen was an avid golfer and loved to garden, sketch and paint. He was a member of St. Nicholas Catholic Church, Walnutport.

Survivors: In addition to his wife and mother, Kellen is survived by his son, Kellen D. Kuhn, Jr. and wife Kate; daughter, Katie Harley and husband Sean; sisters, Deborah Meyer, Jean McCue, Stacey Nichols; several nieces, nephews and his loving grand puppies, Jack, Shake and Bake. 

Services: A funeral service will be held on Thursday, November 15th at 5:00 p.m. in St. Nicholas Catholic Church, 4412 Mountain View Dr., Walnutport. Family and friends may call on Thursday, from 4:00 p.m. until time of service in the church. Interment will be private. Arrangements are under the direction of the Reichel Funeral Home, Northampton. 

Contributions: In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to the Blue Star Mothers of the Lehigh Valley, Chapter 201, PO Box 90226, Allentown, PA  18109 or to the National Parks Foundation, 1110 Vermont Ave NW Ste 200, Washington, DC 20005 or to Best Friends Animal Society, 5001 Angel Canyon Road, Kanab, Utah 84741 in memory of Kellen. 

http://www.reichelfuneralhome.com




Walnutport, Pennsylvania

Kellen Kuhn had just fueled up his Harley-Davidson and was riding to Keystone Harley-Davidson on Route 248 in the Parryville area, to have it winterized and stored for the winter.

He asked his wife, Linda Kuhn, to leave 15 minutes after him from their home in Lehigh Township and pick him up. 

Headed north Thursday on Route 145 in the township, Kellen Kuhn was hit head-on by a southbound silver Chevrolet Impala that swerved suddenly into opposing traffic, according to township police.

Kellen was taken to St. Luke's Hospital in Palmerton, where he was pronounced dead at 4:08 p.m. following the 2:45 p.m. crash.

The driver of the Chevrolet, 91-year-old John "Jack" Fisher, was driving with his wife, Joanne Fisher, 86, in the passenger seat. Both died of their injuries, as well, she at the scene and Jack Fisher on Friday at Lehigh Valley Hospital, Salisbury Township.

The three-vehicle, afternoon crash occurred on Route 145.

The Fishers' car also slammed head-on into a red Jeep Grand Cherokee driven by 53-year-old Gloria Fisher, of Aquashicola outside Palmerton. She wasn't wearing a seat belt and suffered a head injury from striking the windshield, police said.

Lehigh Township police did not immediately say what might have caused Jack Fisher to lose control of his car. The crash occurred in dry conditions, along a curve in the road near Birch Drive. 

Saturday afternoon, friends and family of the Kuhns gathered at their well-kept home off Almond Road, with its view of the Blue Mountain's Kittatinny Ridge. 

Linda Kuhn recalled that when her husband didn't show up at the Harley-Davidson dealership and she couldn't reach him, she headed home. Traffic was blocked on Route 145 at Long Lane Road, but no one could tell her what happened. Then she saw news reports online of the crash.

"When I saw two cars and a motorcycle, I knew right then," she said.

The Kuhn family lived in Lehigh Township since 1989. The couple's son, Kellen Kuhn Jr., and daughter, Katie, are late 2000s graduates of Northampton Area High School and are now off and married with families of their own. 

The helmet Kellen Kuhn was wearing Thursday didn't have a scratch on it, his son noted.

"He wouldn't have been on the bike if he didn't have the helmet," Linda said. "That was our rule."

Kellen Kuhn, who was 63, was a professional pilot for more than 33 years, starting out with Pan Am and continuing for the past two decades with NetJets Inc. 

He loved flying the Bombardier Global 5000 and 6000 and Cessna Citation X through the fractional ownership private jet company based in Columbus, Ohio, his family said. Kellen Kuhn flew out of Lehigh Valley International Airport. 

"He was thinking about working 'til 70," his son said.

Outside of work, Kellen Kuhn liked to golf and loved gardening and landscaping. He was also an artist, and an oil painting he'd done hangs just inside the front door of the Lehigh Township home.

"He just wished he had more time," Linda said of her husband's painting hobby.

Read more and photo gallery ➤ https://www.lehighvalleylive.com

1 comment:

  1. People over 70 have now a fatality rate above teenagers at the wheel. My dad is 83 and subjected to bi-annual medical checks and a practical exam in Canada so wonder why this isn't more generalized. Of course he is taking good care of himself and exercising.
    This is something self driving cars will hopefully alleviate too. Any automated proximity sensing braking system would have done wonders in this circumstance.

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