2 ‘incredible teachers’ killed in fiery crash while driving their oldest son to college

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO/Gray News) - An Ohio couple was killed in a fiery car crash last week while driving their oldest son to an out-of-state college, officials said.

The Cleveland Teachers Union confirmed the victims were two longtime teachers for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District.

They died in the single-car crash that happened Friday in North Carolina after 1 pm on Interstate 85 at Interstate 40 near Chapel Hill.

Maria Nunney, of Cleveland, the 50-year-old passenger in the family’s van, died at the scene.

State troopers say her husband, 55-year-old Donald Nunney, was the driver.

Donald Nunney died a short time later after being airlifted to a hospital in Chapel Hill.

The couple’s two youngest children, ages 14 and 9, were both severely injured, according to the North Carolina State Highway Patrol. They were being treated at Duke Hospital.

According to investigators, the couple was driving from Cleveland to North Carolina to drop off their oldest son at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The state patrol sergeant said they almost made it to the college when witnesses told the trooper the family’s van veered off the highway into a wooded area and a tree before if caught fire.

The couple’s oldest son, a Cleveland-area schools graduate, was in a separate car that pulled over on the interstate as emergency crews rushed in to help his family.

Shari Obrenski, the president of the Cleveland Teachers Union, says the community is in shock and now mourning after learning the news as the district heads into its first day of classes on Monday.

“They were just incredible teachers, loving and attentive and committed parents. They were active in the community. Their loss has hit everyone so hard that it is unimaginable for their family and their children, so shocking and heartbreaking and just devastating,” Obrenski said.

Sgt. Tyler Tucker, with the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, son the couple’s oldest son has been sitting bedside at the hospital to comfort his injured siblings.

“Their entire world has changed,” Tucker said.

Educators and students were still learning about the deaths of the two beloved teachers as the school district started the first day of the new acaemic year.

“We can confirm that we will have additional counselors and resources on hand to support the student and staff communities at the many impacted schools,” Jon Benedict, the school district’s communications officer, said. “Out of respect for the family, that’s all we’re prepared to say at this very difficult time, other than to say our heart is with them at this very tragic moment.”