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Shrewsbury mourns family of 4 killed in Hawaii accident Published in the Asbury Park Press 7/25/00By GEORGIA EASTMIDDLETOWN BUREAU SHREWSBURY -- Classmates remember Lindsey Jordan
as someone who would enter the room with a bounce in her step and a smile
on her face
Yesterday, dozens of grieving students, parents and teachers returned to Shrewsbury Borough School to mourn Lindsey, killed along with her parents and brother in a helicopter accident in a remote area outside Maui, Hawaii, on Friday. "She was a friend to everyone," said her best friend, Jean Dedick, 14, who said she spoke to Lindsey the day before the helicopter accident. "She was really excited. She said she had never done it before," Dedick said with tears in her eyes and a teddy bear that belonged to Lindsey in her lap. Also gathering to console one another over the community's loss were members of the Shrewsbury First Aid Squad, neighbors and relatives, many of whom came from upstate New York. The crash of the sightseeing tour chopper killed William John "Jack" Jordan, 51, a professor of economics at Seton Hall University and a second lieutenant in the first aid squad, and his wife, Jan S. Herscovitz, 49, a psychiatrist who practiced in Little Silver. Their son, Max Jordan, 16, was preparing to enter his senior year at Christian Brothers Academy, Middletown. Lindsey Jordan, 15, was to start her freshman year at Red Bank Regional High School in Little Silver. "It still hasn't quite settled in yet," said Jack Jordan's brother, Casey Jordan of Syracuse, N.Y.,in front of his brother's house. "It was a shock for us and a tragedy for both families." Casey Jordan said his brother was looking forward to a trip to China next and that the family always traveled together. Throughout the day people stopped by, leaving roses, letters and cards on the family's doorstep on Dorchester Way. A framed picture of Jack Jordan and Herscovitz with their arms around each other sat on the front porch. Beside their picture were photographs of their children and letters of sympathy from some of Lindsey and Max's friends. Casey Jordan said the family has not decided on funeral details, pending coordination with Herscovitz's family. His family is in touch with authorities in Hawaii, but have not yet firmed up when the bodies will be returned to New Jersey. "We're hoping to have a full report on what happened soon," he said. Investigators have been combing through wreckage, searching for the cause of the crash. The group was taking a 35-minute tour of the West Maui mountains when the helicopter crashed into a steep hillside at 10:20 a.m. They were riding in an American Eurocopter twin-engine AS355 owned and operated by Blue Hawaiian Helicopters, an air tour company. The pilot, Larry Kirsch of Hawaii, and two 14-year-old Texas tourists -- Na-talie Prince of Fort Worth and Whit-ney Wood of Burleson, also were killed. The Jordans vacationed in Hawaii about once a year, friends of the family said. Jack Jordan was someone who craved adventure and would hang glide and surf, a neighbor said. 'They weren't into Disney World," said Mark Connors, who served with Jordan on the Board of Education and the first aid squad. "They would go places where they knew children could learn things." Connors praised Jordan's civic con-sciousness. A first aider, he taught children in the Shrewsbury school dis-trict how to perform CPR, and was instrumental in getting an after-school program started when he served on the school board. When he retired after serving a three-year term, he said it was to spend more time with his children. Max Jordan and his father were tak-ing saxophone lessons together, Con-nors said. Max Jordan was described as an honor student with a love of computers and music. "They were inseparable," Connors added. Jordan was a student of Don Reeb, a retired economics professor at the State University of New York at Alba-ny, where he earned his doctorate in economics. "I was just overwhelmed," Reeb said yesterday after learning about the tragedy. "It's a terrible, terrible thing." Peggy Ross, a Spring Lake Heights resident and a patient of Herscovitz, said the woman had a down-to-earth approach and that over the years they developed a friendship. "You didn't go in her office and feel like she was a psychiatrist," Ross said. "You felt immediately comfortable. She could talk on any level." Shrewsbury Borough School's doors will stay open throughout the week for any students who want to stop by and talk, Superintendent Lawrence Ambrosino said. The borough's first aid squad and Board of Education also will have a joint memorial service for the family, Connors said. After leaving the school where she shared so many memories with Lind-sey, Jean Dedick stopped by the Jor-dan house to lay a bouquet of pink lilies on their doorstep. "Mrs. Jordan used to grow them in their garden; that's why I brought it to her," Dedick said. "And they remind me of Hawaii." Staff writers Peter Eichenbaum and Juliet Greer contributed to this story. Published on July 25, 2000 Copyright 1997-2000 IN Jersey.
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