Andorra family's holiday drive to Brigantine ends in tragic crash on I-76 in Camden

This morning's sunrise may have found John Fean paddling alone through the back bays of Brigantine or strolling the sand there with his wife before the holiday crowds hit the beach.

Fean, like thousands of other motorists yesterday morning, was headed to the Jersey Shore with his family for the Fourth of July weekend when he lost control of his SUV on Interstate 76 near the Walt Whitman Bridge in Camden, New Jersey State Police said.

Fean, 53, an electrician and father of three from the Andorra section of Philadelphia, was ejected from his black Ford Explorer when it overturned, police said. He was pronounced dead at the scene. He was not wearing a seat belt.

Fean's wife, Kathleen, and daughter, Rosemarie, were also in the car but were wearing seat belts. They were treated for minor injuries at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

A neighbor of the Feans' on Manatawna Avenue in Andorra said she spoke with Kathleen after the accident and Kathleen said a car had cut them off. "She told me he swerved to get out of the way," said the neighbor, who asked not to be identified.

The crash occurred about 11:20 a.m. on the eastbound lanes less than a mile from the foot of the bridge. Traffic backed up for hours on the bridge afterward, and police closed two left lanes during their investigation.

Records show that Fean owned a town house on Harbor Beach Cove with the bay just across the street and the shimmering casino towers of Atlantic City in the distance.

Ted Boeddeker, a neighbor in Brigantine, said he would regularly see Fean unstrapping his kayak from his car and heading off.

"He was very active," Boeddeker said. "He was a very friendly man. I saw him here earlier this week."

The neighbor on Manatawna Avenue said Fean recently retired from the Philadelphia Gas Works, where he had been employed since graduating from high school. He still consulted for PGW, the woman said, but had also started a side business as an electrician with his son, also named John.

"He was the hardest-working man I've ever known," the woman said. "He was still working a little, but he was just getting the chance to really enjoy life."

The neighbor said Fean and his wife were very active and wliked to bike, kayak and walk the beaches of Brigantine when they could get down there.

"He was a very loving man," the woman said. "He loved his family and would have done anything for them."

Daniel Feltyberger, whose family lives next to the Feans in Brigantine, said he saw Fean and his wife walking all over Brigantine, year round.

"I remember that they always held hands," said Feltyberger, 21. "You don't see that too often."