Family of Viola mother, four children killed Friday raising money for burial costs
The family of a woman tragically killed in a traffic crash along with four of her children is raising money to pay for their medical expenses and burials.
A GoFundMe page collecting donations for funeral costs says that Jessica Noel was out with her children on a grocery run when she was hit by a semitrailer truck loaded with grain late Friday afternoon.
Authorities over the weekend said Noel, 32, was driving a Ford Expedition south on 263rd Street West in between Cheney and Clearwater when the semi driver ran a stop sign at 71st Street, leading to the devastating wreck. The Expedition hit the trailer, causing it to split in two, Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Lt. Benjamin Blick said previously.
Noel; her 10-year-old daughter Anaiah and her sons, 4-year-old Jeffrey and 4-month old Hank were killed on site. Mack, a 23-month-old boy, died later at Wesley Medical Center.
Noel’s husband found out about the wreck when a friend phoned, worried about a crash near the family’s Viola home, according to the GoFundMe page, which was created by a niece, Alyssa Pappan.
He and another of the couple’s children arrived home to an empty house at the end of his workday and started making calls when Noel didn’t return from shopping as expected. He immediately went to the crash site after the friend phoned.
By mid-afternoon Monday, the GoFundMe account had raised more than $66,000 of its $80,000 goal. Around 1,400 people had donated.
“Anything you can give will be appreciated during this extremely difficult time of grief and unfathomable loss,” Pappan wrote on the GoFundMe page. Noel’s family members did not immediately respond to interview requests from The Eagle on Monday.
The fundraising account has been verified by GoFundMe, according to a company communications manager.
Funeral arrangements for the family are pending.
The fatal crash was reported at 4:48 p.m. Friday. The semi driver, a 31-year-old Argonia man, was not hurt, authorities have said.
Contributing: Michael Stavola of The Eagle
This story was originally published September 28, 2020 at 4:00 PM.
