Grief counselors were dispatched to Fraser Elementary School today after popular principal Reba Ferguson was killed in a morning traffic accident on an icy road in Grand County.
Reba Ferguson, 44, of Fraser died instantly when she lost control of her Nissan Pathfinder and spun into oncoming traffic on U.S. 40 near Tabernash about 8:45 a.m., officials said.
The other driver, 35-year-old Victor A. Ruiz of Granby, was rushed to Denver Health Medical Center with moderate injuries.
Ruiz won’t be cited, said Trooper Gilbert Mares, because Ferguson appeared to have been going too fast for the slick conditions when she lost control and hit Ruiz.
Robb Rankin, superintendent of the East Grand School District, hired Ferguson 10 years ago as principal at the 270-student kindergarten-to-fifth grade school, after she had worked for a number of years as a teacher in the Roaring Fork Valley.
Ferguson is a Colorado native who grew up in Westminster, he said. He described her today as “vivacious, outgoing, energetic, bright.”
Rankin said Ferguson was on her way to the school district office in Granby for a meeting with an architect about construction at her campus.
Construction is to begin next month, he said.
District officials are making arrangements for an interim principal to serve out the rest of the school year. The school has no vice principal, he said.
Joey Bunch: 303-954-1174 or jbunch@denverpost.com
