Mazda crushed by truck Friday carried four women headed out to share word as Jehovah's witnesses; one died
By Sonja Isger
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Updated: 6:57 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010
Posted: 1:33 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010
Mary Niemoeller was headed out to spread the word as a Jehovah's Witness Friday morning, when a truck crushed the car she was in from behind, killing her and injuring three other women in the car.
The wreck put an end to decades of witnessing when it killed the 61-year-old Greenacres mother of five, grandmother of two, reckoned Lenore "Lynn" Ayliffe, Niemoeller's older sister.
"It's sad that's she's gone so soon. She loved animals, she loved to cook and loved to garden. She just loved life," said Ayliffe, who said their family grew up in the area and that Niemoeller attended Lake Worth High School before starting a family.
Niemoeller was in the backseat of a Mazda driven by Ranysha Lenaye Turner, 19. Also in the car: Regine Turner, 16, and Alicia Nell Tucker, 36. All three lived in West Palm Beach, according to Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputies investigating the crash.
The crash happened shortly before 6 a.m. on Southern Boulevard just east of Sunshine Road.
According to reports, Ranysha Turner had just completed a right turn off Sunshine onto westbound Southern and was accelerating in the outside lane.
Wilson Phillippe, 33, of Port St. Lucie, was westbound on Southern in the outside lane. A uninvolved vehicle in front of Phillippe slowed to make a right at Sunshine, so Phillippe partially changed lanes to go around.
While merging back over, the front of his truck struck and mounted the rear of the Mazda, the report said.
Both vehicles left the roadway, crossed over the sidewalk, struck a street light pole and came to rest in the grass near a canal, the report stated.
Niemoeller is survived by five children, three grandchildren and three sisters, Ayliffe said. Details regarding a memorial service for Niemoeller are expected to be announced this week.