More than 100 students met with counselors Monday at Liberty High School in Carroll to mourn a classmate, who died in a car crash this weekend.
Emily Burke, 15, a Liberty High sophomore, and Rodolfo “Rudy” Calderon, 14, a Westminster Senior High School freshman, died Saturday when their Chevrolet minivan swerved off Louisville Road in Finksburg and crashed head-on into a tree about 11:30 p.m., according to state police reports.
Paul Burke, 17, Emily?s brother, was driving the teens home from a friend?s house and apparently fell asleep at the wheel, police said.
Paul Burke was released Sunday from University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore City; passenger Alison Hird, 15, of Sykesville, was being treated there.
“Emily was just a dear person, and we were fairly certain her death was going to strike a nerve with a great deal of students,” said Liberty High Principal Dwayne Piper.
Emily Burke was an honor student who played soccer and varsity softball. She also played the violin in the orchestra, her mother Tracy Burke said.
At Westminster Senior High, a crisis team also arranged counseling for students Monday.
“We announced to our student body that one of their classmates had passed,” said Principal John Seaman.
“It was a normal day asmuch as that?s possible, and the students grieved appropriately.”
Calderon was the youngest of 10 brothers and sisters and was very affectionate, said his brother Julio Calderon, 31.
Funeral arrangements for Calderon are pending the arrival of family members from Mexico.
A wake for Emily Burke will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. Wednesday and 2 to 4 p.m. and 6 to 8 p.m. Thursday at St. Joseph?s Catholic Church, 915 Liberty Road, Eldersburg.
Funeral services for Emily Burke will begin at 10 a.m. Friday at the church.
A funeral Mass for Calderon will be held at 2 p.m. the same day also at the church.
