The parents of a New Jersey couple are now planning funerals instead of a wedding. Last week the couple was on their way to Pittsburgh the day before their dream wedding, when they got caught up in a tractor trailer crash in Berks County. Roseanne Colletti from our sister station in New York talked with a family friend. 
 
 NJ Couple on Their Way to Their Wedding Killed in I-78 Crash 
 
 What to Know Loved ones are mourning a New Jersey couple who died in a chain reaction crash on I-78 in Berks County while driving to their wedding. 
 
 Kathryn Schurtz, 35, and her fiancé, Joseph Kearney, both died in the accident which involved their vehicle and five tractor trailers. 
 
 The couple was on the way to their wedding in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the time of the crash. 
 
 Loved ones are mourning a New Jersey couple who died in a chain reaction crash on I-78 while on the way to their wedding. 
 
 Kathryn Schurtz, 35, and her fiancé, Joseph Kearney, were driving on I-78 westbound in Windsor Township, Berks County, on Wednesday around 2:30 p.m. when the accident occurred. 
 
 Traffic was heavy at the time in both westbound lanes due to an earlier crash at mile marker 32.5. A tractor-trailer traveling westbound was unable to stop for the traffic ahead. It struck the couple’s vehicle, which was then pushed into the back of another tractor-trailer and set off a chain reaction crash that included three more tractor-trailers. 
 
 The couple’s vehicle and two of the tractor-trailers caught fire. Schurtz and Kearney were both killed in the crash while three other people were hurt. 
 
 Schurtz and Kearney were on their way to their wedding in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, at the time of the accident. 
 
 Schurtz was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and grew up in Fanwood, New Jersey. She graduated from Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. She then attended George Washington University, where she received her liberal arts degree before earning her MBA from Notre Dame University. 
 
 Schurtz worked as the Head of Platform Partnerships for Oracle Data Cloud in New York City and was residing in Jersey City, New Jersey, at the time of her death. Her mother also served as a councilwoman in Fanwood. 
 
 Loved ones say they’ll remember Schurtz for her “voracious appetite of reading, love of cooking, and trailblazing new adventures” with her fiancé Joseph Kearney. 
 
 A visitation will be held at Immaculate Heart of Mary R.C. Church, 1571 Martine Avenue in Scotch Plains, New Jersey, on Monday from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. and on Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. followed by a mass at 11 a.m. 
 
 In lieu of flowers, donations should be made to the Kathryn M. Schurtz Scholarship Fund at Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains, New Jersey. ||||| MORE: Engaged couple killed on way to their wedding remembered by friends and family 
 
 A New Jersey couple on their way to get married in Pittsburgh were killed in a fiery chain-reaction crash last week on Interstate 78 in Berks County, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Kathryn M. Schurtz, 35, and Joseph D. Kearney, both of Jersey City, died in the collision Wednesday afternoon in Windsor Township. 
 
 Their car was struck from behind by a tractor-trailer and pushed into another tractor-trailer, according to Pennsylvania State Police. Three other tractor-trailers were also involved. 
 
 Kearney is originally from Pittsburgh, according to his Facebook profile. 
 
 Schurtz is a 2001 graduate of Union Catholic High School who grew up in Fanwood. She earned her bachelor's degree at George Washington University according to an obituary published Sunday. 
 
 Schurtz went onto receive a Master of Business Administration degree from the University of Notre Dame. She worked as the head of platform partnerships for Oracle Data Cloud in New York. 
 
 Schurtz is survived by her parents Joseph and Karen as well as two sisters, brother-in-law and nephew. Visitation will be held Monday at Immaculate Heart of Mary Roman Catholic Church in Scotch Plains from 4 to 8 p.m. Monday and 10 to 11 a.m. Tuesday. 
 
 In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the Kathryn M. Schurtz Scholarship Fund at Union Catholic High School in Scotch Plains. 
 
 Editor's note: This story has been updated to correct Schurtz's survivors. 
 
 Jeff Goldman may be reached at jeff_goldman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JeffSGoldman. Find NJ.com on Facebook. ||||| They were all 23 and 24 years old, their whole lives seemingly ahead of them. 
 
 They were visiting the North Fork to celebrate a major event in one of their friend’s lives. 
 
 Then, as the driver of the limousine they had booked to help keep them safe during a trip to local wineries attempted to make a U-turn on Route 48 and Depot Lane in Cutchogue, the lives of the four friends came to a tragic end Saturday. 
 
 Steve Romeo, 55, of Southold was charged with driving while intoxicated after his pickup truck allegedly t-boned the limousine while traveling west along County Road 48 shortly after 5 p.m. 
 
 The crash took the lives of Brittney Schulman, 23, of Smithtown; Lauren Baruch, 24, of Smithtown; Stephanie Belli, 23, of Kings Park; and Amy Grabina, 23, of Commack. 
 
 Three of the victims died at the scene and the fourth died at Peconic Bay Medical Center, Southold Town Police Chief Martin Flatley said. 
 
 Injured but surviving the crash were four additional passengers: Joelle Dimonti, 25, of Elwood; Melissa Crai, 23, of Scarsdale, N.Y.; Alicia Arundel, 24, of Setauket; and Olga Lipets, 24, of Brooklyn. The limousine driver, 58-year-old Carlos Pino of Bethpage, was treated for non-life threatening injuries at a Suffolk County hospital. 
 
 The limo had just left Vineyard 48 and was heading east before Mr. Pino attempted the ill-fated turn. 
 
 Fire crews from Cutchogue, Mattituck, East Marion, Greenport, Southold and Jamesport all responded to the scene. Two Suffolk County police helicopters assisted in the rescue, landing directly on Route 48, which remained closed in both directions for several hours. The road was open again by 11:40 p.m. 
 
 The crash scene was devastating to those with the misfortune to drive past it Saturday. 
 
 “As we came around, all we saw were bodies out the left side of the vehicle, hanging out,” said Lynne Lulfs, a Hampton Bays woman who witnessed the crash. “It was surreal; it did not look real.” 
 
 Witnessing the tragedy hit home for Ms. Lulfs, who said her father died in a car accident when she was young. 
 
 “This will resonate with us forever,” she said. 
 
 People who live near the intersection said it’s a frequent spot for crashes. Ruth Urwand, who lives on Depot Lane, said she believes a regular stoplight should replace the blinking light that’s currently there. 
 
 Assistant Suffolk County District Attorney Elizabeth Miller said additional charges are expected in the case, as Mr. Romeo is currently facing just one misdemeanor drunk driving charge. 
 
 “At this time we are continuing the investigation and looking at upgrading the charges significantly,” she said, adding that Mr. Romeo is due in Southold Town Justice Court Friday. 
 
 When asked about the emotional state of his client, defense attorney Dan O’Brien of Nesconset said “It’s a tough, tough situation.” He declined to say where Mr. Romeo was headed at the time of the crash. 
 
 Ms. Miller said one of the women was “a bride” and that the friends were celebrating “an upcoming event.” 
 
 “I don’t believe it was a bridal party, but they were celebrating,” she said in reference to reports that the women were visiting the North Fork for a bachelorette party. 
 
 News of the fatal crash led friends and family of the victims to post memories of them on social media. 
 
 An anguished man who answered the phone at Ms. Baruch’s house Sunday afternoon declined to comment, saying only that he couldn’t talk. 
 
 “I’m sorry,” he said. 
 
 One Commack woman, who asked to be identified only as the mother of one of Ms. Grabina’s friends, said “She was such a vibrant girl.” 
 
 “She tried everything,” the woman said. “She was young — a young girl. I can’t even imagine what her parents are going through right now.” 
 
 According to her Facebook profile, Ms. Grabina graduated from Florida State University in 2014 and had been hired less than a month ago as a staff accountant at New York City firm Ernst & Young. 
 
 Mr. Romeo pleaded not guilty at his bedside arraignment at Eastern Long Island Hospital in Greenport, where he is being treated for non-life threatening injuries. Southold Town Justice Rudolph Bruer set bail at $500,000 cash or $1 million bond. 
 
 The Southold businessman was previously involved in a fatal accident in January 2014 at a construction site in Mattituck, where a 30-year-old worker was struck in the head and killed by a bucket that fell off of a skid-steer loader being operated by Mr. Romeo. He was not charged in that incident, but the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration issued citations and fined the business, in part because Mr. Romeo had not been trained to use the equipment he was operating. 
 
 A wrongful death suit filed by the worker’s family against Romeo Dimon Marine and the owner of the construction site is pending in New York State Supreme Court, online court records show. 
 
 A representative from Romeo Dimon Marine’s Southold office declined to comment on the fatal crash Sunday morning. 
 
 “It’s a private matter,” he told a Suffolk Times reporter, declining to identify himself. “It has nothing to do with business. I have no comment. Nothing to say to you.” 
 
 [email protected] 
 
 Top photo: The intersection of Depot Lane and Route 48 in Cutchogue where four women where killed when an alleged drunk driver plowed into the limo they were riding in on Saturday afternoon. (Credit: Vera Chinese) 
 
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– Kathryn Schurtz and Joseph Kearney were on their way to their wedding when the unthinkable happened Wednesday. The New Jersey couple was driving to Pittsburgh for the nuptials when a crash occurred ahead of them on I-78 in Windsor Township, Pa. Traffic slowed, but a tractor-trailer behind the couple wasn't able to stop in time and hit their car, pushing it into the back of another tractor-trailer. That crash caused a fiery chain reaction ultimately involving the couple's car, which caught on fire, and five tractor-trailers, the Reading Eagle reports. Three other people were injured, NBC Philadelphia reports. Now, instead of a wedding, family will be attending funeral services. Schurtz, 35, "will be remembered for her voracious appetite for reading, love of cooking, and trailblazing new adventures with Joseph," says her obituary. Born and raised in New Jersey, she graduated from George Washington University before getting her MBA at Notre Dame. She was working for Oracle Data Cloud in New York City, and living back in New Jersey, when she was killed. Little information was available on her fiance, but NJ.com reports that per his Facebook profile, Kearney was originally from Pittsburgh. (This couple was married just one and a half hours before tragedy struck.)