Pedestrian, 85, killed in accident

Mechanicsville man often walked along highway, according to nephew

Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2009

An elderly Mechanicsville man who frequently would venture on foot from his home died Monday evening, authorities report, after he was struck in the northbound lanes of Route 235 by a van.

Fire and rescue crews responding to the scene attempted to save the life of 85-year-old James Thomas Yorkshire, according to Maryland State Police, but he died at the scene.

Yorkshire was walking in or crossing the highway's northbound lanes at 8:52 p.m. that day, police report, when he was struck by the 2007 Chrysler Town & Country minivan driven by Edwin Lewis Lipsitz, 57, of Waldorf. The driver was not injured.

Yorkshire was wearing dark clothing, police report from the initial investigation by Trooper M.J. Pitcher.

"It's a poorly lit stretch of road," state police Lt. Michael Thompson said, "and it was raining."

Police report that there were no indications that alcohol, other drugs or excessive speed were factors in the accident.

Police have not determined whether Yorkshire was walking toward or away from his home on nearby Harpers Corner Road when the accident occurred.

"He would walk the road, I don't care if it was raining or snowing," his nephew, James Timothy Yorkshire, 75, said Tuesday. "He would go over to my grandmother's old home place."

James Thomas Yorkshire, a military veteran, lived by himself, his nephew said, after retiring from jobs including helping to build a railway through St. Mary's in the 1940s and later driving a truck as part of a roadwork crew.

"His first love [was] watching baseball, and he loved watching football games," his nephew said.

jwharton@somdnews.com