Friends, family, classmates and Bonny Eagle High School officials gathered in the school’s cafeteria Wednesday to celebrate the life of Angel Marie Greene, the 16-year-old Standish girl killed in a one-car crash last week in Buxton.
The 200 or so people who assembled for the solemn occasion said they would remember her as funny, friendly, compassionate and loving.
“She was beautiful, outgoing, and she always made someone’s day,” said her cousin, Kaleigh Anderson, of Hollis. “She always wanted to help everybody, and be the best person she could be. Just ask anybody here.”
The ceremony was organized by Greene’s brothers, Brett Castner, Chandler Greene II and Devin Greene. A slideshow of photos, which showed Angel Greene at various stages of her life, was displayed on a projector screen while music played quietly in the background. Flower arrangements framed the screen, and off to the side was a large photo of Angel that people could sign.
While the Buxton Police Department this week had not revealed anything about the single-car accident that took place in the early morning on Nov. 5 on Turkey Lane, a state crash report provided details on the event that has left a community in mourning.
Maine Crash Reporting, a Maine State Police online service, lists the driver of the vehicle as Edward D. Estey; the vehicle owner as Dawn M. Estey; and passengers as Autumn P. Potter, Zakary S. Pacillo, and Greene.
Edward Estey and Potter are members of the Bonny Eagle class of 2017, as was Greene, according to yearbook information. Pacillo is a former Bonny Eagle High School student.
A week after the fatality, the Buxton community remains somber.
“I feel so bad for everyone involved,” Buxton Selectwoman Jean Harmon said Tuesday. “It’s tragic when anyone loses their life.”
Angel’s mother, Christa Greene of Standish, said Tuesday her daughter “would be amazed” if she could see all the support she was getting from the community and how many people cared for her.
“People have been texting me telling me what a great kid she was, how special she was, and how she helped them,” Christa Greene said, through her tears. “If she saw somebody in trouble at school, and it wasn’t fair, she defended them. Things like that.”
A few of Angel Greene’s friends and family members shared their memories of Angel from the podium during the celebration of life Wednesday. Among them was her best friend, Lindsay D’Amico, who described Angel as a “beautiful person” and a “role model.”
Angel’s “smile could light up a whole room,” D’Amico said. “She was always positive about everything. Even on her bad days, she would find something to pick herself up and put that beautiful smile back on her face. I will never find another person like her. Even though her life was cut short, she definitely enjoyed every second of it.”
“She stood up for a lot of people,” said another friend and classmate, Olivia Wilkinson.
Buxton police initially reported on Nov. 5 that three people were transported to the hospital with “significant injuries” and a fourth was declared dead at the scene.
Pacillo was hospitalized this week at Maine Medical Center in Portland. A hospital spokeswoman said Tuesday that Pacillo’s condition remains fair.
The Bonny Eagle High School Times reported that students Estey and Potter, whom the publication named as Autumn Klehn, also had been transported to a hospital.
The accident happened at 1:38 a.m. last Thursday on Turkey Lane, at the foot of a hill near its intersection with Henry Hill Road. Turkey Lane is a rural road in Buxton that leads from Groveville to Route 112. Buxton police impounded the wreckage. Towing service operator Mike Smith, owner of Ray’s Garage in Buxton, was called to the accident scene at about 7 a.m. on Nov. 5. This week, Smith described the vehicle as a total loss, and debris was still strewn at the scene when he arrived.
Smith said it appeared that the car had been traveling down the hill when the driver lost control and landed about 10 feet off the edge of the road. Smith said it looked like “they flipped it several times.”
Smith said Turkey Lane is “not a bad road.” Smith said that historically, kids have liked the road humps so they can go airborne, which he described as “catching air.”
Last week’s scene in Buxton is a short distance on Turkey Lane from a 2007 fatality. On Aug. 30 that year, a 22-year-old Buxton man, James K. Irish Jr., was killed in a single-vehicle crash. Buxton police reported then that Irish was traveling at an excessive rate of speed, passed another vehicle traveling east just before the intersection with Henry Hill Road, and lost control of the car and hit a tree head on.
A cross bearing his name, attached to a tree, and a memorial with a photo mark the site where Irish died. It’s near a memorial for Greene with flowers, candles and teddy bears.
The speed limit posted near the site of the latest fatal crash on Turkey Lane is 45 mph.
Harmon said selectmen, police and the state had previously discussed the posted speed limit on the road.
“We have reviewed the speed limit in the past,” Harmon said, but added no change has been made. “I don’t view Turkey Lane as a dangerous road,” Harmon said.
Patsy Leavitt, who has lived on Turkey Lane for three decades, said Wednesday that there are spots that are blind and neighbors going up the hill where last week’s fatality occurred are careful to stay right.
“It’s a blind hill,” Leavitt said.
The tragedy has stunned Bonny Eagle High School.
“Our hearts are heavy at the loss of Angel Greene, who had the same hopes and dreams of all our students,” Principal Paul Penna said in a statement posted by the Bonny Eagle High School Times.
Penna said he appreciates the support that the Bonny Eagle community continues to receive from surrounding communities since the tragic accident.
“They all offered to help and support students in any way possible if they needed to, which is collegial and very professional,” Penna said.
Assistant Principal Lori Napolitano also said in the posting that neighboring schools have called, emailed and sent flowers. One of those schools is Gorham High School, which was dealt tragedy a year ago when a standout football player, Branden Denis, died in a car crash on Oct. 19 in Bridgton.
“Our hearts go out to the Bonny Eagle community. When any student in our area passes away it is tragic and we all feel the ripple effect,” Chris Record, Gorham High School principal, said. “When we at GHS have had tragedies in the past, area high schools have reached out to us with support and we have done the same to Principal Penna at Bonny Eagle.”
On the day of the accident, hundreds of students, friends, family and people from surrounding communities wrote messages on a Facebook page called Bonny Eagle Strong to offer their condolences about the loss of Angel. Though it was unclear who created the page, it is a tribute to people from the Bonny Eagle community who have died.
The Nov. 5 post about Angel reads: “It is truly never easy or comprehensible when this community loses one of its own. Tragedy strikes the young and it is painful beyond words. As we try to get through the day, let’s keep Angel Greene in our thoughts. For those who know Angel, share memories and surround yourselves with others who need someone right now. She will be missed deeply through and through. The face of Bonny Eagle is strong: it’s just who we are. Let’s continue to hold that strength. Rest in the sweetest peace, Angel.”
Greene “was an angel,” said her mother Tuesday. “She was not your average kid. She had a big heart, and always tried to help people, no matter who it was, whether she knew them or she didn’t.”
Angel would tell her mother every day that she loved her, and would kiss her every night. Christa Greene said she often found herself comforting her daughter because “she never thought people cared for her.”
She said her daughter was a very “open and honest” person, and said it was unlike her to sneak out of the house, which police say is what she did the night of the accident. When the police knocked on her door to tell her that Angel had died in the crash, she said, “I thought they were wrong.”
“I said, ‘My daughter? What did she do? She is in bed right now sleeping,’” Christa Greene said. “He said, ‘No ma’am, she’s not.’”
“We’re still shocked,” she said.
When asked if she had an idea about where her daughter would be going at 1 a.m., Christa Greene said, “probably just joyriding, knowing him,” referring to Edward Estey, the driver.
“She was just incredible,” said Christa Greene of her daughter. “I don’t know what I am going to do without her. She definitely was and is an angel. I named her right.”
Christa Greene, the mother of Angel Greene, the 16-year-old from ?Standish who died in a car accident last week,? thanks a crowd of family, friends and classmates for their support during an emotional celebration of Angel’s life at Bonny Eagle High School Wednesday. To her left is her son, Brett Castner, who ?helped organize the event.
Michelle Lunt of Hollis, the mother of one of Angel Greene’s friends, writes a note to the Greene family expressing?her sympathy.
Angel Greene
A roadside memorial on Turkey Lane in Buxton identifies the location where Angel Greene, 16, of Standish, died in a single-car crash on Nov. 5.
Angel Greene’s best friend, Lindsay D’Amico of Standish speaks to Angel’s friends, family members and? classmates during a celebration of life at Bonny Eagle High School Wednesday. D’Amico said Angel was always happy and “her smile?could light up a whole room.”
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