Teen who died in crash gives organs | TribLIVE.com
TribLive Logo
| Back | Text Size:
https://archive.triblive.com/news/teen-who-died-in-crash-gives-organs/

Teen who died in crash gives organs

Michael Hasch
| Monday, December 9, 2002 5:00 a.m.
When Julie Clakeley, a bright and talented teenager who was active in church and school, received her learner's driving permit earlier this year, the 16-year-old Seneca Valley High School student told her parents she wanted to be an organ donor. Clakeley's organs were given to four people Sunday, after the Butler County teen died of injuries suffered Saturday morning in a vehicle accident while her father was driving her to work. "She was an organ donor by choice," her mother, Gail Clakeley, said between sobs last night. "We're very proud of her." Julie Clakeley, who lived with her family in Seven Fields, was a passenger in a vehicle driven by her father, Peter, when the accident occurred about 8:15 a.m. Saturday along Route 19 at the intersection with Northgate Drive in Marshall Township, according to family members and a spokesman for the Allegheny County Coroner's Office. A spokesman for the Pine-Marshall-Bradford Woods Police Department said no details of the two-vehicle accident would be released until this morning. Peter Clakeley, who suffered head, arm and back injuries, remained hospitalized last night in Allegheny General Hospital, North Side. Julie Clakeley was being treated at the same facility when she died at 11:55 p.m. Saturday of head injuries, the coroner's spokesman said. "They were absolutely wonderful at the hospital, from the chaplain and priests to the housekeepers to the doctors and nurses," Gail Clakeley said. "They were phenomenal people, very caring and supportive of everything we needed for our child." Gail Clakeley said her daughter was on her way to work at The Woodlands Foundation in Wexford, where she worked in the kitchen on the weekends at the facility for those with special needs and illnesses. She also did volunteer work with children there. "She was bright. When she smiled, her smile could light up the room. She touched many, many people with her smile," Gail Clakeley said. Julie Clakeley was a member of the Seneca Marching Band's Silk Line, the National Honor Society, the high school symphonic band, and the track and field team. A junior, she was a statistician at various varsity sporting events. She was a member of Calvin Presbyterian Church in Zelienople and youth groups there and at the Harmony-Zelienople United Methodist Church. "She was such a vibrant, wonderful girl," Gail Clakeley said. "She was active in many things." Friends, classmates and friends from various youth groups gathered at the church last night for what Gail Clakeley called "a spontaneous coming together" of some of those whose lives Julie touched. In addition to her parents, she is survived by two brothers, Elliott, 13, and Eric, 9. Funeral arrangements were pending last night.


Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)