To the Editor:.

Friday, February 04, 2000

To the Editor:

Although it has now been three months since Amy’s death, we are still being asked why there was no accident report or other coverage in the "Austin Daily Herald-The Newspaper That Cares About Austin."

We can only reply with we don’t know why. It did appear in every other newspaper around here, but not in our hometown paper. Because of the lack of coverage, our family has endured some pretty hurtful comments from speculation of other peoples’ accounts of what happened.

We feel that it is time to set the record straight now.

Amy Lynn Ludvigsen, 17, was killed in a one-car accident on Interstate 35 south of Faribault. The driver of the car, Dustin Adamson, also 17, tried to avoid an accident after a car in the left lane made an inappropriate gesture at Dustin and veered toward the right lane. Dustin attempted to avoid an accident by swerving sharply to the right, overcorrected and lost control resulting in a fatal rollover. Dustin was treated at Region’s Hospital in Faribault and released. Amy was treated at the same hospital in an attempt to stabilize her to be airlifted to North Memorial Hospital in Robbinsdale – she died in flight at 9:17 p.m.

Amy was born at St. Olaf Hospital in Austin on Nov. 28, 1981. She attended Shaw and Southgate elementary schools for grades K-5, sixth grade she attended Queen of Angels, seventh and eighth grade was at Pacelli Junior High and she was a student at Pacelli for ninth grade through the time of her death.

Amy was awarded certificates for superior merit in Math League in 1993 and for Math Masters the same year. She was the winner of Queen of Angels’ spelling bee in sixth grade and went to regional competition in Stewartville. In eighth grade, she won an Access Scholarship from the Chamber of Commerce and a scholarship from the Knights of Columbus. Amy achieved many great accomplishments in her short life.

She always was on the high honor roll at Pacelli with a 4.0 average and was No. 1 in her class of 2000. She also was attending Riverland College in Austin and maintaining her 4.0 there, too. She was conducted into the National Honor Society after her death.

Amy wrote beautiful poems, some of which have been published. The accompanying one was read at her funeral at Queen of Angels Church on Oct. 26, 1999.

While a student at Southgate, Amy was chosen to do a public-service announcement for Public Education Week. She stated that she wanted to be a lawyer and then go on to be a Supreme Court justice.

Amy was an extremely caring and compassionate young woman who would defend her friends when they were wrongly accused and set several examples for others to follow. Her favorite charity each year was the sharing tree and the Pacelli Christmas Baskets. After her death, her five remaining 4-H lambs were sold and the money was divided among the four grades at Pacelli to help this year, just as she would have done.

Blessed be her memory.

There are so many people we need to thank for the hundreds of cards and memorials to our families in honor of Amy. Money received will fund the Amy Ludvigsen Memorial Scholarship for graduating seniors at Pacelli, starting with her class of 2000. We also need to express a special thank you to Aunts Joan Hinks and Lisa Conradt, Judy Koopal, Uncle David Anderley, and Uncle David and Aunt Rosie Ludvigsen for all their help. A special thanks to Pacelli High School for all of their love and support and for dedicating this academic year in memory of Amy.

She will be forever missed by her parents, Dianne and John; her brother, Christopher Anderley; and sister, Becky Ludvigsen; grandpa, Bill Ludvigsen; grandparents, Virgil and Arlene Anderley; aunts and uncles, cousins, special friends Allison, Dustin, Paul and many other friends.

Dianne Ludvigsen

Austin