NEW YORK (PIX11) —Funeral services for the Long Island band teacher killed in a bus crash in Middletown will be held this week.
The crash killed high school band leader and music teacher Gina Pellittiere, 43, as well as retired teacher Beatrice Ferrari, 77, who was serving as a chaperone.
The visitation for Pellittiere will be held at the Massapequa Park Funeral Home on Tuesday and the funeral mass will be at Our Lady of Lourdes in Massapequa Park Thursday morning.
“She was easily one of the best in the school, always full of energy, happy and uplifting people,” student Thomas Haggerty recently said.
On Monday night, the Farmingdale community paid their respects to Ferrari.
“She was such a tremendous part of the community,” Sen. Steve Rhodes said.
A charter bus carrying 40 students and four adults from Farmingdale High School on Long Island to a band camp in Pennsylvania crashed on Interstate 84 just outside of Middletown at 1:12 p.m. on Thursday, police said. Five students were hospitalized in critical condition, officials said.
A preliminary investigation indicates that a faulty front tire may have contributed to the crash, Hochul said. However, the governor stressed that the crash is still under investigation.
