The motorcyclist who died Monday after a rush hour crash near State College was a recent Penn State alumnus and former member of the university’s prestigious Blue Band.
Josiah Mark Christophel, 22, of State College, was remembered in his obituary as compassionate, humble and empathetic. He graduated earlier this year with a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity analytics and operations.
Christophel was working his dream job at the time of his death, a cyber information assurance analyst for the university’s Applied Research Laboratory.
He was also remembered in his obituary as a talented trumpeter who played in Penn State’s Blue Band and performed in the 2023 Rose Bowl parade. Christophel is survived by his parents, a brother, two grandparents and others.
He died Monday after a 73-year-old local man driving a Toyota Prius turned from East College Avenue and collided with him in the intersection with Struble Road, State College police wrote in a report released Tuesday.
Christophel was ejected and flown by a medical helicopter to UPMC Altoona, where he was pronounced dead. The driver was treated at the scene in College Township for minor injuries, police wrote.
Neither drugs nor alcohol are believed to be a factor in the crash, police wrote. An investigation is ongoing.
Fatal motorcycle crashes generally decreased during the past decade in Centre County, state Department of Transportation data showed. Fourteen such crashes were reported from 2014-18, though only three were reported during the next five-year period, 2019-23.
During the two decades covered by PennDOT data, only one other deadly motorcycle crash was reported in College Township. It was reported in 2012.
Source Agencies
