High school coach struck and killed by semi as he walks to school’s prom, PA cops say
A beloved coach and administrator of a Pennsylvania high school was struck and killed by a semi while walking to his school’s prom, according to police and news reports.
Sean Richmond was identified as the Stroudsburg High School wrestling coach and athletic director killed in the Saturday, May 11, crash on Interstate 380 in Monroe County.
Pennsylvania State Police troopers said Richmond, who was not in a vehicle, was struck by a semi just after 6 p.m. He died after being taken to a hospital.
Richmond was walking to the Stroudsburg High School prom, according to WBRE and WNEP, but it’s unclear why he was walking.
Stroudsburg Area School District Superintendent Cosmas Curry remembered Richmond as “an outstanding athletic director” who “always had students’ best interests in mind.”
“He was a great administrative teammate to me and many of you, and an even more tremendous friend,” Curry said. “Sean’s service is most appreciated. He had a propensity for leadership in the athletics and activities department.”
Before beginning his coaching and administrative career, Richmond was a standout wrestler at University of Pittsburgh, where he was an NCAA Tournament qualifier.
He was named the head wrestling coach at Stroudsburg High School in 2016, according to the Pocono Record. Later, he became the school’s athletic director.
Some of the student-athletes he coached, including Jack Jasionowicz and Kyle Clement, spoke highly of Richmond.
“He was a very good person. As a coach, he would always teach us business and, being first-class all the time, take the losses as wins, and strengths,” Jasionowicz told WOLF.
“Mr. Richmond was like a father to some of our teammates, a lot of people looked up to him,” Clement said, WOLF reported. “Not only because of the wrestling aspect of it, but outside of the wrestling room he taught us how to be respectful, how to be disciplined, how to eat right, how to talk, how to dress.”
According to a GoFundMe, Richmond was married and had two young girls. Loved ones said in the GoFundMe he will be remembered for his “trademark grin and caring nature.”
Stroudsburg is about a 100-mile drive north of Philadelphia.
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