Mother, infant son killed in Highway 2 West accident

I first started at the Bemidji (Minn.) Pioneer as an intern in the summer of 1996. That would begin six years as a news reporter, sports reporter and copy editor for a small, six-day-per-week daily newspaper in northern Minnesota. I wrote a large range of stories from multiple beats, to features to sports, my favorite being the coverage of the Red Lake Reservation High School basketball team named the Warriors. Here is a collection of my stories from my time at the Pioneer.

May 26, 1999

by Devlyn Brooks

Theresa L. Strowbridge, 29, of Bemidji, and her infant son, Eugene, Jr., 3 months, were killed in Monday's two-vehicle crash near Bemidji's Northern Inn on U.S. Highway 2 West, according to a Minnesota State Patrol spokeswoman.

Theresa died about 5 p.m. Monday, after being transported to North Country Regional Hospital. The infant died soon after, the State Patrol spokeswoman said.

Harlan Berntson of New Brighton, who was driving the second vehicle, was uninjured.

According to the State Patrol, Strowbridge, driving a maroon 1985 Plymouth Reliant station wagon eastbound on Highway 2, turned northward onto Moberg Drive Northwest, the entrance road to Bemidji/Beltrami Airport. As she crossed Highway 2 West, her vehicle was struck by Berntson's westbound tan 1999 Chevy Silverado pickup, which was pulling a trailer loaded with a speed boat, at about 11:15 a.m.

The pickup hit the passenger's side of the car, sending both vehicles sliding toward the road's northern ditch.

Funeral arrangements are pending with Olson-Schwartz Funeral Home.