Crash in Oklahoma kills Southgate woman, 3 others

Valerie Olander / The Detroit News

Southgate -- Family and friends were shocked and saddened today by the death of an 81-year-old Southgate resident killed in a head-on collision in northern Oklahoma.

Norma Otterstetter was on a trip with three friends from Toledo, Ohio, when the van they were driving in was hit Sunday afternoon on State Highway 11 by an oncoming pickup truck. The driver of the truck fell asleep at the wheel, police said. The van was then hit from the rear by another vehicle.

All four women died about 4:30 p.m. Sunday. The Toledo women were identified as Christine Fulghum, 69, Martha Jacobs and Lavonne Gantt, both 89, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol said.

They were members of the Mason's True Kindred on their way to a lodge meeting in Arizona, Otterstetter's daughter, Barbara Engen of South Boardman, Mich., said. Otterstetter was one of the group's supreme commanders, she said.

"This is so sudden and unexpected. It just really hasn't sunk in," Engen said.

Otterstetter loved to travel and was "very much on the go," she said. She had a winter home in Texas and drove herself south for the cold weather months. Otterstetter was not driving when the accident happened.

Otterstetter was active with her church, Lincoln Park United Methodist, and the local historical society, neighbor Mary Anton said.

"She's lived here for 57 years and I've known her all that time," Anton said.

Mary Markovich, who lives across the street from Otterstetter, said Otterstetter's age never stopped her from traveling to the Irish Hills and Texas.

"She may have been in her 80s but she was not one to stay put. She loved traveling. She definitely will be missed," Markovich said.

In addition to Engen, Otterstetter is survived by her son, Robert, of Lake Orion.

The Associated Press contributed to this report