A good Samaritan from East Longmeadow was killed Friday night (September 10, 1982) when he stopped to help another motorist with a flat tire. Arthur Yeaton, 30, of 112 Elm Street, East Longmeadow, died in the accident which occurred at 7:35 PM on Interstate 91 in Longmeadow. State police said Yeaton was directing traffic around a disabled van when he and another man were hit by a car identified as belonging to Alice Geary. 85. of 21 Trafton Road, Springfield.
Miss Geary was admitted to the coronary care unit at Mercy Hospital in serious condition where she was being evaluated for a heart attack. Also injured in the accident was Gino Rumore, 22, of 27 Northwood Street, Enfield, CT, who was a passenger in the disabled van. He was being treated late Friday for leg and hip injuries at Baystate Medical Center.
Yeaton was taken by Longmeadow police ambulance to Baystate where he died in the emergency room. According to State Police Sgt. Joseph Ursini of the Monson Barracks, Yeaton and his sister, Sandra Yeaton of Carew Street, Springfield, stopped their vehicle when they saw the disabled van. The accident occurred while Yeaton and Rumore were directing traffic away from the breakdown lane while the driver of the van, William Rinaldi, of 4 Thompson Court, Enfield, changed the tire. Several motorists, including an Enfield couple and an unidentified nurse stopped to help the victims before police arrived. Michelle and Robert Metta-Kahn of Enfield were flagged down by others at the accident scene. After waiting a few minutes, Metta-Kahn said he left the accident site and drove to the Sea & Salad Restaurant on East Columbus Avenue to call police for help.
Monson State Police said they received word of the accident at 7:45 PM from Longmeadow police who called to say a person notified them that traffic was slowing down and the caller thought there might be an accident. Longmeadow police said they received a call from a resident of Birnie Road to say there had been an accident behind there house. That call was logged at 7:50 PM.
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Arthur was legally blind with partial sight in one eye. He held belts in both karate and judo. In high school, he was a javelin and discus thrower. He was involved with the blind skiier program at Mt. Tom for the past few years. He was a lifelong resident of East Longmeadow and was a student of speech therapy. He graduated from East Longmeadow High School in 1971, and Connecticut School of Broadcasing in Hartford, CT. Arthur attended Emerson College in Boston, as well as STCC. Arthur's funeral will be Monday morning at Byron's Funeral Home, State Street and in St. Michael's Church with burial at the convenience of the family in St. Michael's Cemetery.
He leaves his parents, Seth A. and Rose B. (DuBois) Yeaton, with whom he lived, his sister, Sandra F. Yeaton of Springfield, and his grandmother, Helen DuBois of Enfield. Donations may be made to Retina Associates Inc., 110 Charles River Plaza, Boston, or to Shriner's Hospital for Crippled Children, Springfield Unit.