St. Charles man killed in fiery Iowa crash
A St. Charles woman was recovering Wednesday from injuries she suffered in a fiery crash this week that killed her husband of 29 years.
The crash happened about 6:15 p.m. Monday as Barbara and James Daly of St. Charles were traveling Interstate 80 in eastern Iowa. The couple's van was among three eastbound vehicles struck by a semitrailer while stopped in a construction zone.
James Daly, 61, and a motorist in a different vehicle, Diana Nesseler, 39, of downstate Milan, were killed in the crash near LeClaire. Barbara Daly, 63, was taken to Genesis East Medical Center in Davenport, where she was being treated Wednesday for broken ribs and other injuries, said her sister, Caryl Van Overmeiren, of Geneva.
"It was just an absolutely horrible accident, but she's going to be OK," said Van Overmeiren, a former longtime Kane County Board member. "Definitely the good Lord was with us."
Van Overmeiren said the Dalys were in the Iowa area to handle estate proceedings for James Daly's mother, who recently died.
Police said the Dalys were sitting in traffic when the semitrailer slammed into a Corvette behind them, pushing it into a ditch. The truck, driven by Anthony L. Johnson, 34, of Arlington, Tex., then struck the Dalys' van, forcing it into another semitrailer.
The Corvette, Johnson's semitrailer and the van all burst into flames, according to police. Van Overmeiren said her sister was driving and was thrown from the vehicle. A passer-by pulled her to safety before the explosion, she said.
"It was an inferno of flames," Van Overmeiren said, adding that the couple's golden retriever also perished. "I was told debris from the explosion went as far as 400 and 500 yards. We're talking four or five football fields away from the scene."
In February, Barbara Daly retired from the Kane County state's attorney's office, where she held a variety of support positions over 33 years. She had been looking forward to traveling this summer with her husband, who worked in the office equipment industry, her sister said.
The couple has one daughter who lives in China, where she is teaching English as a second language. Their son lives in Champaign and is helping to care for his mother in the hospital, Van Overmeiren said.
"They were such a loving couple," she said. "It was a second marriage for both of them but it would have been 29 years in June. They just fit. You don't say that about a lot of people. They were just so in love and were just so looking forward to a new life together in retirement."
Funeral arrangements are pending.
Daily Herald staff writer Lee Filas and The Associated Press contributed to this report.