An 82-year-old Oak Harbor man died Tuesday morning in a five-car accident north of Dugualla Bay.

The accident sent three people to area hospitals and shut down Highway 20  near Jones Road for several hours while police investigated.

Franz J. Pfister, a retired college professor, was driving a 2005 Toyota Corolla southbound around 9 a.m. when he tried to use a passing lane to get by Fred W. Linton, 57, of Tacoma, according to a press memo from Washington State Patrol.

Pfister struck Linton, who was driving a 2014 freight-liner with double trailers, which caused Pfister to go into the northbound lane into oncoming traffic.

Pfister struck Martin Van Rensum, 80, also of Oak Harbor, head-on.

Rensum then struck Bernard Langdon, 88 of Burlington, who was driving a 1997 Toyota pickup truck.

Pfister then struck Tamara M. Snyder, 41, of Oak Harbor, driving a 2008 Volkswagon Rabbit before the accident came to a rest.

Pfister died at the scene. Witnesses reported seeing emergency personnel trying to resuscitate Pfister before eventually covering his vehicle with a canvas.

Van Rensum and Langdon were transported to Whidbey General Hospital. Langdon’s son, Joseph Langdon, reported his father had a possible lacerated kidney.

Snyder was transported to Island Hospital. Linton was not injured.

Pfister was a former German instructor and language department chair at Bellevue Community College. His longtime friend, Peter Melvoin, described Pfister as “always joking, always smiling.”

“He had a Cracker Jack memory for history and European languages, particularly low and high German, and Yiddish,” Melvoin said.

“He will be deeply missed.”

The cause of the accident is still under investigation, according to Washington State Patrol.

It is unknown if drugs or alcohol were involved.

n Reporter Debra Vaughn contributed to this article.