KENNEDY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — A local Air Force veteran who died in a helicopter crash in January was remembered Saturday during the unveiling of a sign that will designate a roadway in Kennedy Township in his honor.
Part of Route 51 will be renamed the Captain Sean M. Ruane Memorial Highway.
Ruane, a Kennedy Township native, died when geese hit his Air Force helicopter, causing it to crash on the eastern coast of England.
The 31-year-old husband, father and son served three tours of duty in Iraq and two in Afghanistan.
"We are just so grateful for everything they do to honor our son for what he did and how he served his country," said Mike Ruane, Sean Ruane's father.
Sen. Wayne Fontana introduced the legislation that officially proclaimed the highway designation.
Fontana said, "Capt. Sean Ruane was the very definition of a great American hero who truly lived up to the Air Force rescue motto of, 'That others may live.'"
"I thought this was fitting to have this road named because his mother and I both drive that road twice a day to and from work. It's just awesome," said Mike Ruane.
Marcia Ruane, Sean Ruane's mother, said, "I think Sean would have been very much honored by this too. I know he would have been."
Captain Sean M. Ruane Memorial Highway sign unveiled
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