CEDAR FALLS, Iowa – 2020 Bishop Heelan Catholic High School graduate Isaac Roerig, a music education major at the University of Northern Iowa, died after being hit by a semi truck in Cedar Falls. According to a Facebook post written by Bishop Heelan President John Flanery, Roerig was pronounced dead at the hospital. Roerig’s father, Todd, is a staff member at Heelan and a cross country coach.
“This news is truly devastating. Please keep the entire Roerig family in your prayers as well as our Bishop Heelan community,” Flanery wrote in the Facebook post.
Roerig turned 19 four days ago, a Heelan spokeswoman said Saturday.
In a separate Facebook post, Cedar Falls Public Safety wrote that Cedar Falls Police, Cedar Falls Fire Rescue and MercyOne Paramedics were called to Westbound Highway 20 under Hudson Road in Cedar Falls for a reported accident involving a semi and a pedestrian at around 1:45 p.m. Friday.
Cedar Falls Public Safety has not yet publicly identified the victim, who died, though their post almost certainly refers to the same crash. The accident remains under investigation.
As Flanery pointed out in his post, this is the second member of the Bishop Heelan class of 2020 to die in less than four months, both in pedestrian traffic accidents. The first was Keaton Chicoine, who died in late June in Florida after a car he was riding in had apparently broken down, and he had gotten out to examine the vehicle. A truck drifted onto the shoulder of the roadway, striking Chicoine.