HOLLAND, Mich. (June 2, 2014) – Robert and Susan Kammeraad were killed in a motorcycle crash Sunday evening in Allegan Township; friends said they were married as long as they can remember and dropped everything to help other people.
Long-time friends, Ken McCarty and Keith Walters, told FOX 17 News that Bob immediately went down to Gulfport, Mississippi a few days after Hurricane Katrina struck. Walters said Bob spent two years living in a church with a leaky roof to help recovery and rebuilding efforts in some of the most devastated areas, living off little food and shelter.
Walters also said Sue helped women recovering from drug and alcohol abuse issues get back on their feet. She would mentor them and help to provide them with resources and anything they needed.
Friends of the couple said they were very involved mission efforts as well, and were members of the Central Wesleyan Church based out of Holland. The Kammeraads loved biking and moved to Florida in the winter to continue biking year-round. Walters said Bob bought a new Harley last spring and already put about 17,000 miles on it.
Plainly stated, both McCarty and Walters said the loss of Bob and Sue Kammeraad will leave a “huge hole” in the community.
As Fox 17 News reported, the motorcycle crash happened around 5:40 P.M. Sunday on M-40 south of Babylon Road in Allegan Township, according to officials. The Allegan County Sheriff’s Office said a 23-year-old woman from Grand Haven, with two people in her car, was driving southbound and veered into the lane of oncoming traffic to avoid hitting the cars in the lane ahead of her that were stopped to make a left-hand turn. Authorities said the driver hit the Kammeraad’s who were driving northbound on their motorcycle. Officials said the Kammeraads were wearing helmets.
The crash is under investigation, and authorities have not released the name of the driver. The Allegan County Sheriff’s Office said there are no charges against the driver as of Monday, pending results from the toxicology report and the review from the Prosecutor’s Office.
