Elderly woman killed on I-5 in Tacoma after semi-trailer hits her car is identified
An 81-year-old woman killed when a semi-trailer struck her vehicle on Interstate 5 in Tacoma and pushed her into another car has been identified.
Barbara Ann Brown, 81, of Spanaway died in the wreck, which occurred Feb. 26 near 84th Street South.
A truck driver was traveling south in the far right lane when he came upon slowing traffic and swerved into another lane in an attempt to avoid it. The semi-trailer jack-knifed, then struck Brown’s Nissan Sentra. The impact pushed her car into a Ford Ranger.
Brown was pronounced dead at the scene. Nobody else was injured.
The truck driver, a 31-year-old Yelm man, was cited for following too closely.
The multi-vehicle crash closed I-5 for nearly six hours.
Brown is survived by two children and multiple grandchildren.
“She was larger than life and her stories proved it,” according to an obituary. “She came from a family of loggers where she developed her tough as nails attitude. She tried to do everything her brothers did and she refused to be confined to stereotypes.”
This story was originally published March 5, 2021 at 11:12 AM.
