Forest Hill Man Dies 5 Months After Bus Accident

A Forest Hill man died Feb. 16 after a five-month battle with injuries he suffered when a school bus collided with his car in September in Havre de Grace.

Edward Folderauer, 56, is survived by his 21-year-old daughter Shannon and his wife Elizabeth.

“He was a wonderful man. He would do anything for you,” Elizabeth said. “He was a fun-loving guy. He had that contagious laugh and he lived life to the fullest.”

Elizabeth, whose 45th birthday was Tuesday, met Edward in Fells Point.

“He was actually my bartender,” she said.

Edward was supplementing his income with C&P Telephone Company, now Verizon, in the 1980s. By 1988 they got married and moved to Forest Hill 10 years later.

Just three months after moving to Harford County, Edward was in an accident eerily similar to the one he suffered in late 2010.

An opposing driver crossed the center line and struck his vehicle.

“How can you have two accidents with people crossing the yellow line in your lifetime?” Elizabeth said. “He was probably in shock trauma for a week. … I think we did six months of rehab going back and forth to the facilities.”

Police say the September accident, which took place on Level Road, began when a Havre de Grace woman crossed the double-yellow line and struck an oncoming Harford County Public School bus, which was transporting six students to Meadowvale Elementary School. The bus then spun around and hit Edward’s 1998 Chevrolet Trailblazer.

Carol Allen, 57, of the 800 block of Market Street, was driving a 2006 Audi A6 when police say she struck the school bus. A spokeswoman for the Harford County Sheriff’s Office said the State’s Attorney’s Office is still investigating the accident.

In all of Edward’s days in hospitals and rehabilitation facilities, Elizabeth said she never left his side—much like he did when he retired in 2008 to move his mother into their home and care for her until she died.

“How many men would do that?” Elizabeth said. “She had cirrhosis of the liver and dementia. He cleaned her up and did everything for her.”

In some ways, Elizabeth returned the favor this winter, spending Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s and Shannon’s 21st birthday by his side.

Edward’s “life celebration” was held at St. Ignatius Catholic Church in Forest Hill on Monday, but Elizabeth said his spirit lives on even as she celebrates her first birthday without her husband.

“The girls are all taking me out to dinner,” she said Tuesday afternoon. “We’re just going to go to Fisherman’s Wharf. … No men allowed!”

Maybe this time she can pour a drink for Edward.

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In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to:

Brain Injury Association of Maryland
2200 Kernan Drive
Baltimore, MD 21207