A Dickson City council member died after a car crash in South Abington Twp. Sunday night.
Lackawanna County Coroner Tim Rowland said Michael G. Fedorka, 70, of Dickson City was fatally injured in a two-car crash around 8 p.m. on North State Street.
Fedorka was a Dickson City Council member. He had served on the council from 2008 to 2016 and from 2020 to the present. He was also on the borough planning commission for 24 years, 22 of them as its chairman.
According to a release from Rowland, Fedorka was taken to Geisinger Community Medical Center, where he died less than an hour after the crash.
South Abington Twp. police are investigating.
Fedorka ran for Lackawanna County Commissioners in 2023. On his campaign website, he described himself as a former Dickson City Council president, a former Dickson City Borough Manager and noted he served as president of the Dickson City Planning Commission for 23 years.
"We have helped Dickson City and all of Lackawanna County become the place where we shop, dine, where we work and where we live," he wrote.
South Abington Twp. Police Chief Paul Wolfe said the crash was a head-on collision between two pick-up trucks in the 700 block of North State Street near BooYah Burgers and an Exxon gas station.
The other driver, Som Bahadur Limbu, 58, of Scranton, was injured and is in serious condition, according to Wolfe.
Wolfe said Thursday that Limbu remained in serious condition at GCMC but was expected to recover.
Police had also received video from the scene. Wolfe said Fedorka's white Toyota Tundra was shown pulling out of the Exxon gas station heading northbound, but crossing "fully" into the southbound lane prior to the collision with Limbu's grey Toyota Tacoma.
Wolfe said Fedorka would have been considered at fault for the collision.
"The white truck was completely in the oncoming lane," Wolfe said. "There was no wrongdoing on behalf of the injured party."
"A Dickson City guy"
Dickson City Council President Jeffrey Kovaleski served alongside Fedorka since 2011.
"The best way I could explain our relationship is just friendship," Kovaleski said. "The things we were able to do together with him on planning as well as a colleague on council...has just been truly amazing."
Kovaleski said Fedorka was "a Dickson City guy through and through," not only through public service but through his business, Fedorka Cabinetry.
"He coached Little League Baseball in the community, he sponsored teams in the community," Kovaleski said. "As a matter of fact...I get to wear his shirt. My kids have always played under Fedorka Cabinetry."
That Little League shirt feels a little heavier this week.
"I just feel very, very sorry for the (Fedorka) family," Kovaleski said. "I'm devastated for the family, I cannot even fathom to understand what they're going through at this time."
Kovaleski said the borough council has spoken to their solicitor about the situation, but they are hoping to take their time in filling Fedorka's seat.
"We want to give Mike (Fedorka) his time and his due," Kovaleski said. "But once, you know, everything settles down...we'll go from there."
According to an obituary from Frank T. Mazur Funeral Home, visitation for Fedorka will be held on Friday, May 30th from 5-8 p.m. at the funeral home in Dickson City.
Funeral services will be held Saturday, May 31st at 10 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. with burial to follow at 12 p.m. at St. Catherine's Cemetery in Covington Twp.
