Dan Donelle, 52 Head Custodian at Rowntree Public School killed.
Dan Donelle was on his way to work, eager to return from the Christmas break and put smiles on the faces of teachers, staff and students at Rowntree Public School in Brampton when he lost his life.
Donelle and another Peel District School Board employee, Mark Raney, head custodian at James Grieve Public School in Caledon, were killed in a head-on crash on Highway 10 near Orangeville.
At about 5:45 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 4, OPP, Dufferin EMS and the Orangeville Fire Department responded to the head-on collision involving two Ford F150 pickup trucks on Highway 10 south of 10 Sideroad in Mono.
A total of three people were transported to hospital with life-threatening injuries. Raney and Donelle were both occupants in the red Ford F150 pickup truck and on their way to work. The driver of a black Ford is going to survive.
“The nicest, most giving person I have ever worked with,” said Michelle Santos, who worked with Donelle for three years, said in a Facebook post. “Not only were we coworkers but he was my friend.”
Mary Haslett, who also worked with Donelle, said the married father of one was a kind and generous man and students and staff at Rowntree are “devastated and shocked.”
An online obituary posted by Raney’s family described the 57-year-old as a man who “enjoyed spending time with his family and working on his hobby farm” and also noted “He had a love for children with special needs.”
