text: 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. ||||| Friday November 16, 2018 08:20 AM 
   
   Traffic was tied up for hours, with vehicles being diverted off the interstate. 
   
   Windsor Township, PA — 
   
   Two people were killed and three were injured in a fiery chain-reaction crash on Interstate 78 in Windsor Township on Wednesday. 
   
   The fatal accident was the second crash within minutes on the busy highway. 
   
   The first occurred about 2:30 p.m. in a single westbound lane in Tilden Township. Two tractor-trailers and one passenger vehicle were involved, said Trooper David C. Beohm, public information officer for Reading-based Troop L. 
   
   No injuries were reported in that crash. 
   
   The crash slowed and stopped traffic in both westbound lanes around mile marker 29. 
   
   Minutes later, a westbound tractor-trailer, unable to stop for traffic ahead, struck a passenger vehicle at mile marker 32.5. The impact pushed that vehicle into the rear of another tractor-trailer, according to Beohm. 
   
   The chain reaction involved five tractor-trailers and one passenger vehicle, Beohm said. Two of the tractor-trailers and the passenger vehicle were involved in the fire. 
   
   The highway was shut down for several hours between Hamburg and Lenhartsville in Windsor Township. 
   
   One lane of eastbound traffic began moving about 7 p.m. The westbound lanes opened at 3 a.m. Thursday. 
   
   Troopers said that both westbound lanes would be closed indefinitely for the investigation and cleanup. Further information on the crash victims was unavailable. 
   
   The crash created traffic headaches for motorists. 
   
   Late Wednesday, a steady stream of tractor-trailers that had been diverted off I-78 rumbled through downtown Hamburg on Old Route 22. 
   
   Lt. Howard Olsen of the Hamburg Fire Police was sandwiched between tractor-trailers crossing the intersection of Fourth and State streets in both directions. 
   
   The line of trucks stretched from Hamburg east to Lenhartsville, turning the normally dark roadway into a giant illuminated snake. 
   
   "I've been here since around 3:30 p.m.," Olsen said matter-of-factly. "This isn't the worst I've ever seen." 
   
   When they left Douglassville about 7 p.m., Mike and Stephanie Rehrer had no idea that they'd end up driving down dark country roads and limping into Rutter's in Hamburg with not much more than fumes in the gas tank, 
   
   "We literally coasted in here," said Stephanie, filling the tank of the family's Honda Odyssey minivan. 
   
   Mike chimed in, "The fuel indicator was on zero for the last 10 miles." 
   
   The Rehrers were among hundreds of motorists diverted from their destinations by the two accidents. 
   
   On their way to Lenhartsville to buy Harley-Davidson T-shirts, the Rehrers were in sight of their destination when they were diverted in a two-hour odyssey that landed them at the Rutter's. 
   
   A steady stream of weary motorists, some tied up for hours, sought refuge in the gas station, convenience store and restaurant off Route 61, a mile or so south of I-78. 
   
   Gassing up their 2017 Corvette at 9:30 p.m., Daniel and Barbara Hotko said that they had left Durham, N.C., 12 hours earlier. 
   
   "It's an eight-hour drive to our home in New Jersey," said Daniel, a retired General Motors worker. 
   
   Diverted off I-78 at Shartlesville, the Hotkos said that they were not allowed on Old Route 22. Meandering over dark country roads, they finally found a different, permitted way onto Old Route 22 and drove into Hamburg. 
   
   A patron at Rutter's directed them to Route 662 at Shoemakersville, a path to Route 222 and east to Allentown. 
   
   Jared Ney of Hamburg said that his daughter, a fourth-grader at Tilden Elementary School, didn't get home from school until after 5 p.m. 
   
   "That's a five- or 10-minute ride, and it took two hours," said Ney, 32, district manager for Red Wing Shoes. 
   
   It was also a long day for volunteer firefighters and fire police. 
   
   Hamburg Fire Company personnel worked through most of the night, assisting in diverting traffic, cleaning up spilled vehicle fluids and providing manpower to state police investigators as they pulled apart the wreckage. 
   
   The last crew returned to the station at 4:45 a.m. Thursday, Deputy Chief Jarrod K. Emes said. 
   
   Hamburg's roughly 25 volunteers were stretched to the limit. 
   
   ï¿½We had crews going to three different accidents within a 12-mile stretch of I-78,ï¿½ Emes said. 
   
   Contact the City Desk: 610-371-5012 or news@readingeagle.com.
target: – 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.)