Kerry Heider could have come home earlier from a business trip to Ohio, but the Murrysville man stayed behind for an important meeting. Heider was finally sober after years of drug addiction. While in Ohio, he decided to go to a meeting for recovering addicts to mark his five-month sobriety milestone. But on his way home Wednesday night, Heider's car was hit head-on by a tour bus that crossed the median dividing Interstate 70 about 30 miles east of Columbus. Heider, 52, died at the scene. "He was just really proud of himself, and he was just happy that he was turning his life around," Heider's sister, Wallis Hutchko, of Sewickley, Allegheny County, said. "He finally was doing the things that he should be doing and was living his life right and then a bus crosses the line and hits him head-on." Heider was heading east on I-70 in Buckeye Lake, Ohio, when the tour bus drove through a guardrail in the median and crashed into his car about 10:40 p.m. Wednesday, the Ohio Highway Patrol reported. The tour bus was carrying high school students heading back to Dayton, Ohio, after a visit to Washington, D.C. Seven students were treated at a local hospital and released. The bus driver, Loren R. Porter, 72, of Fairfield, Ohio, told The Associated Press the accident started when a tractor-trailer merged in front of the bus. Porter was cited for failure to maintain control of his vehicle. Heider and his wife, Renee, had two children, Lauren, 10, and Lindsey, 6. Heider also had an older daughter, Joni, 17, from a previous marriage. "He was a family man," Hutchko said. "He adored his daughters. He totally adored his daughters." Heider used to manage the family business, Birdie's restaurant in Monroeville, before his father sold it in the early 1990s. More recently, he worked in construction sales, the job that had taken him to Ohio this week. Heider lived in Murrysville for 13 years. He grew up in Wilkins Township with his sister and brother, Kurt. His mother, Lorraine (Thomassey) Heider, still lives there. His sister said he was a "major sports enthusiast. He played basketball, but he loved football and baseball." Heider, a Pirates and Steelers fan, attended the Super Bowl in February. He also was a former member of Churchill Valley Country Club. Hutchko said her brother's drug addiction started as recreational drug use as a young man. He tried many times to get sober and had about 10 years of recovery before spiraling down again after divorcing from his first wife. Heider's death comes on the heels of other family tragedies. His father, Wallace J. "Birdie" Heider, died in October. An uncle, Arthur Heider, died three weeks ago. Hutchko said she had just taken her mother to a spa last week to help her get a fresh start. "I thought we were making progress and this has now pushed us back," Hutchko said. They spent yesterday afternoon at the Patrick T. Lanigan Funeral Home making arrangements for Heider's funeral. Visitation will take place at the funeral home's Turtle Creek/Monroeville chapel, 1111 Monroeville Avenue, Turtle Creek, today from 2 to 9 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to the time of a service at 12:30 p.m. Saturday. Burial will follow in William Penn Cemetery in Churchill. Hutchko said the only solace her family can take is that Heider had turned the corner on his addiction. "He died sober. He died clean for the rest of his life," Hutchko said. "He ended his life the way we wanted him to be living his life and that torment is now out of his life. I just wish he had just one more chance." - The Associated Press contributed to this report

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