Waldorf woman, 81, dies in crash

Was passenger in car in Route 5 accident

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

An 81-year-old woman died Sunday after suffering head injuries in a Waldorf traffic accident, the cause of which is still under investigation, police reported.

At about 2:42 p.m., police learned of the collision between a white Dodge Ram truck and a tan Toyota Corolla at Route 5 and Billingsley Road.

Audrey Irene Adams of Waldorf, a backseat passenger in the Toyota, was taken by ambulance to Civista Medical Center and pronounced dead at 3:34 p.m., according to a press release from the Maryland State Police.

The Toyota driver, Thomas Lawrence Dehetre, 61, and front-seat passenger, Susan May Dehetre, 61, both of Waldorf, were also driven to the La Plata hospital. Susan Dehetre, who had neck and back injuries, and Thomas Dehetre, who had minor injuries, were both treated and released, police reported.

The pickup driver, John Andrew Lewis, 56, of Hughesville, wasn't injured in the accident, according to state police.

Adams was a homemaker and worked for many years as a waitress at a Waldorf restaurant, according to her obituary.

"Once you were in her presence, it stuck with you," said Mandy Edwards, the wife of one of Adams' cousins.

At 18, Adams married her husband, Raymond, who worked at Patuxent River Naval Air Station. Although she never had children of her own, Adams loved young people and became very good at child care, according to Edwards.

"She was the watchdog of the neighborhood," Edwards said.

Adams was also a member of St. Paul's Episcopal Church, Piney Parish in Waldorf.

When the accident happened, Adams had been on her way from visiting a funeral home after the death of an acquaintance. She'd been planning on having dinner with a friend later that evening.

"She had a lot of people who cared about her," Edwards said.

brodgers@somdnews.com