A traffic accident Monday afternoon near Ainsworth claimed the life of a Chadron State College senior whose younger sister was killed in another traffic accident a week earlier.

21-year old Andrew Ford died when an SUV driven by his brother...19-year old Adam Ford...ran into a pair of vehicles stopped for construction on Highway 20 about 8 miles west of Ainsworth.

Both Fords and the drivers of the other 2 vehicles were all wearing seat belts, with Adam Ford and one of the other drivers taken to the hospital. Ford was released yesterday.

16-year old Ashley Ford died the previous Monday when her pickup collided with another at the junction of 2 Brown County roads just north of Ainsworth while en route to school. Her funeral had been held Saturday.

The double loss for the well-liked and respected family of Tom and Amy Ford has rocked the community of 1,800. Ainsworth school superintendent Darrell Peterson says crisis teams have been on the scene to counsel students and staff all week.

Peterson also says community organizations, surrounding schools and the general public have been offering support. Andrew Ford was a 2006 graduate of Ainsworth High while his sister was a sophomore.

Chadron State College vice president of student services Randy Rhine says Andrew Ford was on track to graduate a year from now with a business administration degree having an emphasis in agriculture.

Ford was also active in student government at Chadron State, and had been elected Campus Activities Board cultural affairs coordinator for the coming year.

His funeral will be Friday afternoon at 2:00 in the Ainsworth gym...the same place his sister's funeral was held last Saturday. Donations are being taken for a memorial scholarship in the names of Andrew and Ashley Ford.

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