Students Mourn Deaths of 3 Classmates in Accident

Friends of Larry Klebusits Jr. say he had wanted to letter in basketball from the time he was a freshman at Dana Hills High School in Dana Point.

“Making the varsity team was his goal,” said his best friend, Brian Sims. “He was cut his freshman and sophomore years (and played junior varsity his junior year), but he made the team as a senior.”

He would have received his letter at the sports awards banquet at the end of this school year. Now Sims will accept it for him.

Klebusits, 18, of Laguna Niguel was killed in an auto accident Friday along with John Christopher Quinton, 16, also of Laguna Niguel and Allison Babcock, 16, of Irvine. They were riding in the same car on their way to a school dance.

Today’s classes at St. Margaret’s School in San Juan Capistrano, where Quinton was a junior, were canceled so students could attend funeral services at St. Margaret of Scotland Episcopal Church, school officials said.

“His death touched a lot of lives,” said Peter Ensor, the church vicar. “I hope they can confront it and in the end see something positive. Most young people think they’re immortal.”

In a school with a little more than 600 students, with a junior class of 41, Quinton was described by school officials as “gregarious” and “sharp-minded.” He ran on the cross-country team and served as treasurer in student government.

Somber Day on Campus

Dianne M. Melton, upper school principal at St. Margaret’s, said it was a somber day on campus Monday as students mourned their classmate.

“I had a trigonometry class today, but all we did was talk about Chris,” Melton said.

Teachers at Irvine High School, where Allison Babcock was a junior, were told about the accident and were given the option of discussing it with their students, a school official said.

However, Allison had enrolled at Irvine High only last month after moving from Northern California and was not yet well known on campus.

At Dana Hills High, the death of Klebusits was “emotionally hard for people,” Sims said. “There’s quite a few people absent (Monday). Larry got well known because he was on the basketball team.”

Said varsity basketball coach Steve Thornton: “I don’t have a family, so I feel as if I just lost a son or someone very close to me.”

‘A Positive Effect’

Thornton said Klebusits “was not blessed with great playing talent, but he worked hard and had a positive effect on the team.”

In memory of that spirit, the coach said, the basketball team’s most inspirational award has been renamed the Larry Klebusits Jr. Memorial Award. A memorial fund has also been started by his friend, Brian Sims, who has so far collected $800.

School officials said students will be excused at 1 p.m. today to attend funeral services for Klebusits at St. Timothy Roman Catholic Church in Laguna Niguel.

The accident occurred when a Mercedes Benz driven by Quinton crossed into oncoming traffic in San Juan Capistrano and collided with a Ford Mustang.

Two other passengers in the Mercedes Benz, Peter McGraw, 17, of San Juan Capistrano and Christopher Medhurst, 17, of Laguna Niguel, were taken to Mission Community Hospital in Mission Viejo where they were reported in fair condition Monday.

Three persons in the Mustang also were taken to Mission Community Hospital. Sandy Donahue, 35, of Fountain Valley; her daughter, Casey, 8, and the driver of the car, Howard Hayden, 34, of Capistrano Beach, all were reported in serious but stable condition Monday.

Lt. Richard J. Olson of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department said the accident is still under investigation.