Falling tree kills kayaker on Brandywine Creek

Bird song and the muffled talk of passing hikers were the only sounds along a fateful stretch of Brandywine Creek in Delaware early this afternoon, a day after a falling tree killed a Chester County kayaker.

Delaware State Police identified the victim yesterday as J. Scott Kendall, 44, of Kennett Square.

The Kuzo & Grieco funeral home in Kennett Square said Kendall was a printer technician for Xerox Corp. in Wilmington.

The incident happened across from Brandywine Creek State Park, about a 10-minute walk along a narrow, twisting trail north of Thompson's Bridge, which carries Route 92 west toward Route 100, four miles south of the Pennsylvania state line.

Kendall was on the water with his wife and two others, state police said, when a tree - about 100 feet tall, five feet wide and rotted at the base - fell on them.

"The impact entangled this subject and his three fellow kayakers," a state police press release stated. "A hiker witnessed this incident and called 911 immediately."

When emergency personnel responded to the 3:55 p.m. call, they "had difficulty getting to the injured person. . . . Two kayaks were fashioned together to help transport the injured party to shore via the waterway.

"Unfortunately, his injuries were fatal and he was pronounced dead upon making it back," to the parking lot at the bridge.

Cpl. Jeffrey C. Whitmarsh 2d, public information officer for the Delaware State Police, said in an interview that, of the two kayakers besides Kendall's wife, Teresa, "one was a friend, another a relative. I don't know if that was his brother or his wife's brother."

The witnesses asked not to be identified, he said.

Today, the tree lay covering about half of the west side of the stream, thick foliage from its high branches stretching perhaps 20 yards in the shallow, slow-moving stream.

Whitmarsh said the tree fell from private property on the creek bank across from the park.

Wayne Kline, chief of enforcement for Delaware State Parks in Dover, said that within the park, "I don't recall what was the last incident where there was a fatality."

Curtis Greer, funeral director for Kuzo & Grieco, said that besides his wife, Teresa, Kendall is survived by a sister, Cindy Kendall of Alexandria, Va., and two brothers, Steve and Gary, both of Plano, Texas.

A viewing will take place at the funeral home, 250 West State St., Kennett Square, between 2 and 3 p.m. on Saturday. Services and burial will be private.