Simi Valley man dies in SUV crash
By Nancy Needham nancy@theacorn.com

A HAPPIER TIME--Richard Ballagh of Simi Valley was killed Saturday in a traffic accident on the 23 Freeway. His wife, Nan, is expected to recover from her injuries.

Richard Ballagh, 62, died after his 2002 Mitsubishi Montero SUV crashed at about 4 p.m. Saturday on the 23 Freeway near Olsen Road in Thousand Oaks.

His wife, Nan, 63, who was in the vehicle's passenger seat, suffered critical injuries.

Both were taken by ambulance to Los Robles Hospital and Medical Center. Ballagh had a weak pulse, but died on the way, said his daughter, Susan Ballagh-Peters. Her mother was expected to fully recover physically, she said.

According to a police report, Ballagh was driving north on the 23 Freeway and for unknown reasons left the roadway and hit a construction sign in the median, then continued northwest until crashing into the divider wall. The car overturned onto the southbound lanes of the 23.

Ballagh-Peters said her mother doesn't remember much about the accident and was very traumatized.

She doesn't recall seeing anything on the road or whether it was raining at the time.

The couple had just shopped for shelves for their family room at OSH on Avenida de Los Arboles in T.O. and were returning to their home about 10 miles away in Simi Valley.

"My mom is only 5 feet tall, and slender. She got out of the car on her own and was sitting beside it after the accident," Ballagh-Peters said. "My father is 5 feet 10 inches tall and was stuck inside."

She said the vehicle was upside down and the caved-in roof caused her father's chin to cut off his air passageway.

The Ventura County Medical Examiner's report said Ballagh died from asphyxiation.

Ballagh-Peters, an only child, said her dad was a wonderful father and a great husband who didn't judge others. He was in very good health. As a human resource director for Curtiss Wright, he spent a lot of time driving, she said.

"He and Mom always eat healthy, are active walkers and hikers," Ballagh-Peters said. "He didn't take any prescriptions."

He loved to play tennis and spent a lot of time with his wife at the racquetball club, she said.

Richard Ballagh was a longtime member of the school board in Simi Valley, said his brother, Jim Ballagh of Virginia Beach, Va.

"He was a great brother and he has always been there for me," Jim Ballagh said.