SPRING LAKE, Mich. — A woman is dead after crashing into a Grand Haven Area School District bus on southbound US-31, the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office says.
The 47-year-old woman from Muskegon was driving in a blue Honda south of Taft Street in Spring Lake Township around 4:30 p.m. The school bus was slowed due to a traffic backup.
The woman was unable to slow down in time to avoid the collision and hit the back of the school bus, police said. She succumbed to her injuries on the scene. She has been identified as Kathleen Varboncoeur of Muskegon.
She was a second grade teacher at Moon School.
Varboncoeur was a Michigan native who taught at St. Michael Catholic School and Three Oaks Academy before joining the Muskegon Public Schools System, according to her obituary. Her joys in life were teaching and most of all, her twin 10-year-old daughters.
Her visitation and scripture services are set for Tuesday, March 29, and Mass of Christian Burial for Wednesday. Memorial contributions can be made through classroom supply donations to the Muskegon Catholic Education Foundation or Moon School.
There were no children on the bus at the time of the accident and the driver was uninjured.
Southbound US-31 was closed for several hours while officers investigated. Drugs and alcohol are not believed to be factors in the crash, police say.
Anyone who witnessed this crash is encouraged to contact the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office (616-738-4000) or Ottawa County Central Dispatch (800-249-0911).
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