Bus Accident Victim Remembered as Free Spirit

By Philip Rucker and Keith L. Alexander
Washington Post Staff Writers
Monday, July 14, 2008

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.

By yesterday, Small had slipped on a second ring.

"I decided to put my band on, too," Small said.

After attending Shepherd University, Stoll started work at the Fairfax branch of the national landscaping firm Brickman Group, installing plants and turf across Northern Virginia. He was so efficient at filling mulch that the company sent him to Philadelphia to train its landscapers there, said his mother, Kathi Nguyen.

Stoll and Feiock worked together at the Fairfax office, said Todd Thompson, who heads Brickman's Alexandria office. They joined coworkers in taking the office's interns to Friday's Nationals game, Thompson said.

Efforts to reach Feiock's family yesterday were unsuccessful. Stoll's family said Feiock had recently moved from North Carolina and that Stoll helped him learn the ropes at the landscaping company.

Stoll taught himself Spanish so he could better communicate with the workers he supervised, many of whom were Latino immigrants, Nguyen said.

"He had an innovative way of thinking," said Nguyen, who fought back tears behind her dark sunglasses. "He was just so smart and he spoke full sentences when he was 1. He just loved to learn."

"He didn't have time to clean his room," she joked, "but he had time to learn."

Stoll made friends easily, as evidenced by the outpouring of tributes from friends on his Facebook page. He enjoyed fishing, played lacrosse and football, and cheered for the Washington Redskins.

He also loved cooking and attending rock concerts. Before a Dave Matthews Band concert this summer, Stoll and Small grilled during the tailgate. Instead of the typical fare of hamburgers and hot dogs, Stoll cooked flank steak and ribs.

"He was just a free spirit," Stoll's sister, Alica, 18, said. "He lived every day like it was his last day. He got, like, 50 years of living in his 24 years."

Stoll's family was reluctant to discuss the bus accident. "Something happened," Nguyen said. "I don't know what happened. I don't know all the facts."

For them, his death still hasn't settled in.

"I keep on thinking he's going to walk in the door and say, 'Hey, Alica, why are you crying?' " his sister said. "But he won't."

Staff writer Chico Harlan contributed to this report.