Bus Accident Victim Remembered as Free Spirit

Joshua Stoll, fatally injured in Friday's harrowing double-decker bus accident, was a vivacious athlete and Fairfax County native who labored as a landscaper and was to marry his high school sweetheart in September, family members recalled yesterday. He had also become a mentor to the other victim.

Stoll, 24, and Michael Feiock, 35, who recently moved to the area, had joined their co-workers Friday night for a company-sponsored outing to watch the Washington Nationals take on the Houston Astros. As Stoll and Feiock stood atop the open-air sightseeing bus on their way to the ballpark, their heads struck the 11th Street overpass, and they died from their injuries, police said.

The bus left RFK Stadium and passed safely under at least one overpass near the stadium's parking lot before the accident, Assistant D.C. Police Chief Patrick Burke said yesterday. He could not say whether any of the 14 other passengers were also standing, but police said there were no other injuries.

D.C. police investigators will continue to interview the other passengers this week as they try to determine which direction Stoll and Feiock were facing, whether the bus had enough clearance to drive under the overpass and whether there was negligence on the part of the passengers, Burke said.

"I would be remiss if we didn't do a full investigation before we started blurting out things," Burke said.

Mark Potts, a Nationals season ticket holder who rode the double-decker bus from RFK to the ballpark last Wednesday, recalled having to dodge branches and other low-hanging trees while sitting on the upper deck.

When the bus approached the 11th Street overpass, Potts said, he noticed how close he and the other seated passengers were to the overpass. At one point, he said, he raised his hands "like on a roller coaster," and his hands were only a few feet from the overpass.

"We were pretty close, even seated," said Potts, a media consultant and former Washington Post reporter. "It was insane."

Before yesterday's game against the Houston Astros, fans at Nationals Park were asked to observe a moment of silence as Feiock and Stoll's names were displayed on the scoreboard.

With the details surrounding Friday's accident still foggy, Stoll's family, his fiancee, Brooke Small, and friends gathered yesterday afternoon at Small's Herndon home. They remembered him as a smart and fun-loving man with an infectious smile. He wanted nothing more than to start his own family, they said.

"He wanted to have kids right away," Small, 24, said. "He was so loving, and he was so caring, and when he and I were alone he was so soft and romantic. He was so well-rounded. He had it all."

She wept as she talked about their wedding plans. They had been dating eight years, since their junior year at Herndon High School. He gave her an engagement ring when he proposed in April on the beach in Ocean City. They were to settle in a home in Leesburg next month, and their wedding was set for Sept. 27.