Celebration of Life ceremony held for Moberly teacher killed in crash on Highway 63

MOBERLY, Mo. (KMIZ)

The family of a Moberly teacher who was killed in a crash on Highway 63 hosted a Celebration of Life on Monday at the Moberly High School Performing Arts Center.

Ashely Apel, 39, was a Moberly Middle School teacher and one of three people killed in two separate crashes on Highway 63 on Thursday.

Apel taught sixth-grade language arts at the middle school. Some of the testimonies that were shared made it clear that colleagues felt she was a bright light to be around. She also had a passion for history, serving on the Moberly Historic Preservation Commission. Her family honored her at the event by showing a montage of photos to the tune of "Over The Rainbow" by Judy Garland, because it was one of her favorite songs.

Apel was in the backseat of a vehicle that was in a crash on Highway 63 near Breedlove Drive. The vehicle was stopped in traffic because of another crash when a Jeep rear-ended it, killing her. She was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a Missouri State Highway Patrol crash report.

Three other teachers were also in the vehicle and were injured, according to a letter from the Moberly School District.

Apel's vehicle was in a line of traffic after authorities closed Highway 63 north of Highway 124 for an earlier crash. Two people died in that crash when one vehicle hit another head-on. A 55-year-old Moberly man's vehicle crossed the center line and hit a vehicle driven by a 32-year-old Centralia man, the patrol reported.

The school announced counseling services will be available for students and staff and that community organizations and churches have offered to help with grief counseling.

The highway patrol no longer names crash victims so the names of the other people who died have not been released.