An 85-year-old driver who was seriously injured in a car accident Nov. 8 passed away last week.

Maria Kelly, a Freeland resident, was driving down Bush Point Road and attempted to cross Highway 525 when she was struck by an oncoming car, according to a report from the Washington State Patrol. Kelly was airlifted to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle; the passengers in the other car were uninjured. Everyone involved in the crash was wearing seatbelts.

Early in the morning of Nov. 14, the State Patrol released an updated memo with sad news that confirmed the death of Kelly.

The intersection where the accident occurred has been the site of at least one other fatality in recent years. In 2020, 17-year-old Taylor Daniels of Clinton was killed after trying to make a left-hand turn onto the highway from Bush Point Road. Though the speed limit on the southbound highway lowers from 55 to 45 mph shortly before the intersection, most vehicles tend to gather speed down the hill and visibility is poor. Residents have called for a traffic light or a roundabout in the area.

Data from the Washington State Department of Transportation shows that although the number of total crashes in Island County in 2024 is the lowest it’s been in 10 years, accidents involving fatalities are on the rise, with eight so far recorded this year.

According to a 2009 article in The Record, Kelly was an avid fan of cartoon and comic strip books, which she collected and displayed at the Freeland Library.

Loretta Martin, who has been the head Langley Mystery Weekend writer for several years, remembers Kelly for her participation as one of the suspects in the early 2000s. Though she was never cast as the “murderer” in the fictional mystery, she kept people guessing.

“When she would answer the questions, she would always have a sort of mysterious feel to her voice like she was holding something back, so she always got a lot of votes as a suspect,” Martin said.

Kelly was also a devout parishioner of St. Hubert Catholic Church in Langley, where she was a lector. Kathy and Charlie Childs respected her for her commitment to her faith. The couple recalled Kelly’s quiet, sweet nature, the hats she wore to mass and her talent for arts and crafts at church bazaars.

“She absolutely loved to garden,” Kathy Childs said. “I know she helped one of my friends with her garden.”