Widower Of Metro-North Crash Victim Says She Gave Family Strength, Courage

EDGEMONT, N.Y. -- The husband of Edgemont resident Ellen Brody, who was killed a year ago when her Mercedes SUV collided with a Metro-North train, told Daily Voice he and their daughters have been able to move forward because of her larger-than-life presence.

Alan Brody of Edgemont with his wife, Ellen, 45, who died on Feb. 3, 2015, when her Mercedes SUV collided with a Metro-North train in Valhalla. Five commuters from Westchester and Danbury, Conn., also were killed.
Photo Credit: *File photo*

Jon Craig

02/02/2016 10:00 a.m.

"We can live as if she's among us,'' Alan Brody said. "Not without pain, that's for sure, but we can go forward.

"My wife was a wonderful person,'' Brody said. "My wife was a joy to anyone who knew her."

"My wife was heroic,'' Brody added, noting that she would have helped rescue commuters from the train wreck if she had not been killed in the fiery collision at the Commerce Street crossing on Feb. 3, 2015.

Brody had left her job at a Chappaqua jewelry store and was driving near the Taconic State Parkway when an earlier accident caused gridlock and prompted detours across the tracks. About 6:30 p.m., according to federal investigators, Brody was inching her way along Commerce Street in bumper-to-bumper traffic when a crossing gate closed on the rear of her SUV.

Alan Brody said his wife was unfamiliar with the area and the rail crossing that he said still utilizes 19th-Century technology.

"We're certainly not missing the technology,'' Brody said. "We're missing the will."

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