Hit-and-run victim identified as Elkins Park woman

An elderly woman killed in a hit-and-run accident while crossing a busy street in Cheltenham Township was identified yesterday as Frances Gordon of Elkins Park.

Gordon was hit by a van about 5 p.m. Monday near Church and Old York Roads in Elkins Park, police said. She was 85, according to the Goldsteins' Rosenberg's Raphael-Sacks funeral home, which arranged her services.

Police were searching yesterday for a white or light-gray work van with a ladder attached on top and tinted rear windows. The driver was a white male in his late 40s or about 50, clean-shaven, with short hair, police said.

Gordon, a retired social worker, likely was coming from the Elkins Park Free Library, a short walk away on Church Road, police said. Gordon had visited the library Monday and could have left around the time of the accident, library staff members said.

Gordon visited the library several times a week to read newspapers, said Cathy McCoy, head librarian.

"She came in real quietly and always sat in the back room," McCoy said.

Born in Europe, Gordon grew up in poverty after her family immigrated to Montreal, said Libby Brisman of Young Israel of Elkins Park synagogue, where Gordon was a member.

The experience of living in a third-floor walk-up - often with no heat - gave Gordon, a widow, an empathy for the underprivileged, Brisman said.

"She never forgot those days," said Brisman, wife of Rabbi Dov Brisman, spiritual leader of the congregation.

Neighbor Kim Rose described Gordon as a familiar sight running errands around the neighborhood. "I never saw her drive," Rose said. "She walked everywhere."

Police said Gordon was walking south across Church when she was hit by the van traveling east. After the accident, the driver got out of the van, looked around, and then drove off.

Two other vehicles trailing the van passed by the victim, police said. A witness who stopped was in the third vehicle behind the van.

McCoy called Church Road near the library "the worst street to cross on foot" during rush hour because it is extremely busy and traffic backs up.

Cheltenham police are asking that anyone with information about the accident call the department's highway safety unit at 215-885-1600, Ext. 476, or the Detectives Division at 215-885-1600, Ext. 450. To make an anonymous tip, call 215-885-1600, Ext. 777, or visit www.cheltenhamtownship.org