(LANESVILLE) – A Lanesville High School senior died after his car struck a tree on Grange Hall Road last Wednesday.
According to police, 18-year-old Thomas Elder failed to make a sharp 90-degree turn on Grange Hall Road and his car struck a tree instead of the guardrail.
Elder was one of just 70 students in the Lanesville High School class of 2020 in a town of about 600 residents.
Elder ran cross country, played basketball and sang in the school choir and was active at Saint Mary’s Catholic Church. He talked of one day going into law-enforcement.
On Thursday, pastors and counselors from a half dozen churches, even some comfort dogs, were at the school helping Elder’s friends and classmates.
Thomas was preceded in death by his mother, Angela Walter Elder. He is survived by his father, Mark Elder, sisters, Holly, Alexis, Pamela and Marissa Elder, and a nephew, Kaden Elder.
Services for Thomas will be 11 a.m. today at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 2500 St, Mary’s Drive, in Lanesville. Burial will be in the St. Mary’s Catholic Cemetery.
