Buhler teacher killed in two-vehicle wreck
A Buhler School District teacher was killed in a two-vehicle wreck Friday morning, likely while on his way to work.
The school district said Jory Konrade died in the two-vehicle wreck that happened at around 7:30 a.m. on K-61 near Medora. Konrade was a visual arts teacher and football coach at Prairie Hills Middle School.
The district sent an email and text to parents about the loss of the faculty member:
“With a heavy heart I am letting you know that Mr. Konrade was involved in the accident this morning and passed away from his injuries. Counselors are on site and are providing services to any students who need them. If you feel the need to pick up your child, please do so. “
“Vocal Music concert for tonight will be rescheduled for a later date. Thank you for your understanding.”
A Twitter photo from Trooper Ben Gardner shows a semi and pickup in the center median, right-side-up with a piece of the guardrail broken off. Gardner said in a Twitter post that the truck was headed south on K-61, crossed the median and was hit by the northbound semi.
“We’ve had a lot of wrecks throughout the day today,” Gardner said in a Twitter video. “We will continue to see more wrecks throughout the day. The snow and liquid on the roadways are freezing over especially on bridges. So we believe that is a contributing circumstance to this wreck.”
Gardner said that at around 11:45 a.m. that the southbound and northbound lanes around the wreck near Medora would continue to be closed for several hours.
“My wife is a school teacher,” Gardner said in the video. “Any time there is death it is not good. It is difficult for first responders. It’s difficult for family members involved in the event. It’s difficult for a community. But even more so when it’s involving a teacher and staff that has connections to current students and past students … And as we all become aware of this event we need to do what we always should be doing, which is lifting each other up, wrapping each other with love and trying to assist those that have fallen on some difficult times.”
This story was originally published November 22, 2019 at 12:05 PM.