Sisters’ Tragic Accident Revisited 50 Years Later
By Hannah Evangelidis and Linda Sasso
On the afternoon of November 22, 1963,
three sisters – Marie, Eva, and Beatrice
LaFosse - died in a tragic accident
on Route 31 in Holden. But their
drowning received little press as that
same day President John F. Kennedy’s
assassination shook the nation.
The three blood-related women were
also sisters in another sense: they were
all nuns, members of the Order of St.
Joseph. Marie Emelia LaFosse, 68, called
Sister Celina Marie; Eva Josephine
LaFosse, 63, called Sister Mary Martha;
and Beatrice Elizabeth LaFosse, 54,
called Sister Mary Ferdinand all died
in the accident along with their driver,
Timothy Lahey, 69.
According to newspaper reports, the
biological sisters were returning to the
convent after attending their mother’s
88th birthday party in Fitchburg.
The initial phone call to the
Massachusetts State Police reported
that Lahey veered off Route 31 and into
the Kendall Reservoir.
“A little after 4 p.m. Representative
[Edward] Harrington [Jr] was out in
his yard, and just as the WTAG news
came on about President Kennedy’s
assassination, this car came down the
hill, weaved side to side and then went
down into the water,” said retired state
police captain Raymond Alzapiedi in a
taped interview conducted before his
death this year.
In the 1960’s the Holden Police
Department only employed part-time
employees and the State Police often
assisted with emergency calls.
“It was unusual for two State Police
Lieutenants to respond to a car
accident,” said retired State Police Major
Edward Tonelli. “But there was no one
else available so we [myself and Ray
Alzapiedi] took the resuscitation bag
and within 15 minutes we were there.”
Published
newspapers
from
1963
reported that James Sullivan, who at the
time was 31 and resided in Spencer, was the
first person at the scene of the accident.
“Mr. Sullivan had already pulled the
chauffeur out [of the water] when we got
there,” said Alzapiedi.
Both Tonelli and Alzapiedi dove into the
cold water multiple times in an attempt to
rescue the sisters.
“We couldn’t get them out that easy,” said
Tonelli. “Their clothes were floating around
in the car and we were not sure what we
were grabbing. Their robes were heavy and
the third sister was down under the seat.”
Alzapiedi said the car was submersed in 1012 feet of water. “If it rolled over one more
time, we would have been trapped in there
as well,” he said.
According to Tonelli, it took much effort to
get the sisters’ bodies out of the car. “I don’t
think an excellent swimmer [wearing those
robes] could get out of where they were,” he
said.
According to Tonelli and Alzapiedi, the
sisters were pronounced dead at the scene.
Soon after, the two state troopers were sent
to Holden Hospital to be treated for minor
injuries. “We had been at the scene 30-45
minutes diving into the water, so we were
cold,” said Tonelli.
Alzapiedi suffered an additional injury.
“There was gas in the water, so every time I
came up out of the water, it burnt my eyes,”
said Alzapiedi. “But even after they treated
them with drops, the wind would affect
them.”
Tonelli and Alzapiedi never investigated the
accident because they never suspected foul
play and they presumed the Holden Police
had taken over the case.
No accident reports or any other official
records, however, could be found in the
Holden Police archives.
Alzapedi said that the next day, Mr. Sullivan
– the man who arrived first to the scene –
came to the state police barracks.
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