It was the l in Toms River this year. It was within a week of a fatal accident several miles north west of the spot on Route 571 where another woman died.
The head-on collision between a Jeep and Kathleen Theresa Lacey's Hyundai on Bey Lea Road south of North Bay on Oct. 7 sent Lacey by helicopter to Jersey Shore University Hospital in Neptune, where she died the next day from her injuries.
Lacey, nee Breen, was 73 years old, a retiree who lived on South Chanticleer Road in Toms River with her husband of 52 years, Peter Francis Lacey.
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She was the child of Irish parents (Michael and Della of Kerry and Claire, Ireland) and grew up in the Bronx before the family moved to Waldwick in Bergen County, according to her obituary from Silverton Funeral Home.
Lacey loved life, especially Irish dancing -- a hobby she particularly enjoyed with her longtime friend Joanie Taughran, who she predeceased. After her close friend's death, she remained close with Taughran's family and children and counted them among her own relatives.
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In that way, the accident claimed an adoptive mother and aunt, as well as the mother of Lacey's three children and their spouses: Peter and wife Karen, Michael, Dennis and wife Maureen. Her three grandchildren, Patrick, Lauren and Michael Brian, were a joy to "Nana."
Her friends called her Kay, and she kept in touch with them whether they were childhood friends from the Bronx or "snow bird buddies in Florida," friends that her family said were from all chapters of her life.
In Kay's memory, the family is asking in lieu of flowers that donations be made to two charities in her name: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and the New York Firefighters Burn Unit.
Family and friends are invited on Wednesday, Oct 12 from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. to the Silverton Funeral Home, 2482 Church Rd., Toms River and on Thursday, Oct 13 at 9:30a.m. to St. Luke's R.C. Church in Toms River.
Toms River Police Chief Michael Mastronardy said yesterday the accident is under investigation.
With five traffic fatalities this year so far, Toms River's number of fatalities is slightly less than previous years, said the chief.
"Unfortunately there are often around ten or so a year, for various reasons," Mastronardy said.
He said for several years in the 1990s, the number of fatalities climbed to 20 in a year.
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