Although Zachary tried to free his grandmother, he was unable to and was found outside the vehicle when emergency personnel arrived on scene. Whittaker, who received blunt force injuries to the chest and abdomen, was transported to Ventura County Medical Center where she was pronounced dead at 12:48 p.m.Zachary received cuts to his left cheek and elbow, and the driver of the second vehicle - only his last name, Pineda, was available at press deadline - complained of pains in his legs and both were treated and released from the hospital. All three were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the collision, according to Officer Taylor.“Whether it was church or Santa Clara Valley Hospice” or any other organization that needed volunteers, “Virginia always raised her hand,” said Cathy Barringer of Santa Paula, former Hospice president and a longtime friend.Whittaker’s death in the accident was not the first traffic tragedy faced by the family: in March 2005, her grandson and Zachary’s brother, 7-year-old Kensington Whittaker, was struck and killed by a motorist while crossing a street with other family members near Disneyland in Anaheim. A 17-year-old boy hit the vacationing group - family members from Fillmore and San Francisco - and injured several other people, including then-6-year-old Zachary, who was critically injured, including a skull fracture.
Second family tragedy: Virginia Whittaker killed in accident
May 25, 2007
Santa Paula News
A committed community volunteer was killed in a two-vehicle collision in a rural area of Santa Paula Tuesday morning, according to the California Highway Patrol.
By Peggy KellySanta Paula TimesA committed community volunteer was killed in a two-vehicle collision in a rural area of Santa Paula Tuesday morning, according to the California Highway Patrol. The death of 79-year-old Virginia Whittaker was the second time in a little more than two years that tragedy has struck the family.Whittaker, a former Santa Paula resident who was active at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and with the Santa Clara Valley Hospice/Home Support Group, among others, received fatal injuries in the crash that occurred at about 8:20 a.m.Whittaker was taking her 8-year-old grandson, Zachary Whittaker, to Ventura Missionary School and was traveling northbound on Briggs Road in her 1989 Buick Le Sabre. She had stopped at the stop sign at West Santa Paula Street before pulling out into the intersection.A 58-year-old Santa Paula man was driving a 1989 Toyota Camry eastbound on West Santa Paula Street at about 50 mph, and was 100 to 200 feet away from the intersection when Whittaker entered it. “The driver attempted to brake and avoid a collision, but collided with the left side” of Whittaker’s vehicle and struck it on the driver’s side, according to CHP Officer Steve Taylor. Whittaker’s vehicle spun, hit a dirt culvert and rolled onto its roof, coming to rest facing west in the westbound lane of West Santa Paula Street.
