Woman struck, killed by school bus in downtown Bethesda
Bethesda resident worked for homeless advocacy nonprofit
A Bethesda woman struck and killed by a school bus on Nov. 11 is being remembered as a tireless advocate for the homeless.
Sheila Humphries, 60, was killed while attempting to cross Arlington Road in downtown Bethesda.
"We're all just sort of standing around wondering what happened, and how we'll go on," said Susan Kirk, executive director of Bethesda Cares, a nonprofit where Humphries worked as a social worker. "It's all just sort of overwhelming."
At approximately 1:20 p.m. on Nov. 11, Humphries was walking across Arlington Road at its intersection with Moorland Lane when she was struck by a school bus exiting Bethesda Elementary School, said Capt. Paul Starks, a Montgomery County Police Department spokesman. She was rushed to Suburban Hospital, where she later succumbed to her injuries.
The bus was driven by Gilbert Ventura Fuentes, a 43-year-old Hyattsville resident who has been a driver for Montgomery County Public Schools since 2001, said county schools spokesman Dana Tofig. Fuentes is currently on paid administrative leave while the collision is being investigated. Fuentes took drug and alcohol tests after the crash and both turned up negative, Tofig said. The drug and alcohol tests are standard procedure.
Five students were on the bus at the time of the accident. Tofig said the students were being taken to Bethesda Elementary from magnet programs at Takoma Park and Eastern middle schools. None of the students or Fuentes were injured in the accident, and counselors were made available to the students.
At Bethesda Cares, Humphries is remembered as a determined worker, unrelenting in her desire to help the homeless.
"She was a gifted, gifted counselor and therapist," Kirk said. "The difference she made in so many peoples' lives is immeasurable."
Humphries worked with the chronically homeless, helping them land on their feet with housing or jobs. She worked at the Bethesda nonprofit for four years, Kirk said. A widow, Humphries is survived by her two grown sons.
Humphries moved to Bethesda from Florida as a teenager, and graduated from Walt Whitman High School, Kirk said.
Her funeral was held Monday at Bethesda United Methodist Church.
Fuentes has not been charged in the incident. Police inspectors will review the collision and present their findings to the Montgomery County State's Attorney's Office in a few weeks, Starks said.