The executive secretary to Dr. William "Bill" Estes, dean of the Helen DeVos College of Education at Lee University, was one of two people killed in a wreck in the Florida Panhandle on Friday.
Karen Brown, 67, was traveling on a vacation trip with friends.
The driver of one of the vehicles involved, 49-year-old Sandra Kidd of Cleveland, Tn., was in serious condition.
Ms. Brown and the other passenger in the Kidd vehicle, 65-year-old Glenda Morris, of Moultrie, Ga., were dead at the scene.
Lee officials said, "Karen has supervised the Dean’s office in the Helen DeVos College of Education since 2011, coming to Lee from a similar role at Life Care Centers of America. She worked alongside Dr. Debbie Murray for two years, then stayed to work with Dr. Estes since 2013. She was not just a colleague known for her excellence and superb grasp of her work, but a beloved friend and mentor to countless staff, students, and faculty in the College of Ed. To say that she will be deeply missed there is an understatement."
The Florida Highway Patrol said the accident happened around 2 p.m. Friday at Blountstown. The Patrol said Ms. Kidd was going west on County Road 286 when she failed to stop at a stop sign and was T-boned by a vehicle driven by 43-year-old Shirane Smith, of Gainesville, Ga.
The Smith vehicle collided with a fence post before overturning. Ms. Smith was in serious condition. A passenger in her vehicle, Catherine Gaskin of Lowndes, Ga., had minor injuries.
The Kidd vehicle wound up in a fence.