A POPULAR teacher and mum-of-three was killed in the motorway crash which also claimed the lives of two Huddersfield men.
Kim Sumner died after a car with five Huddersfield people in it careered off the M20 in Kent, leaving three dead and two badly hurt.
Kent Police have not named either of the men who lost their lives in the tragedy in the early hours of Saturday morning.
Mrs Sumner, who recently turned 51, lived in Meltham after moving from Scapegoat Hill, and leaves three daughters, who are all university students.
She was the special educational needs co-ordinator at The Brooksbank School in Elland and had been working there for six years.
Brooksbank headteacher Mrs Jeanne Watson said: “Kim was a wonderful member of staff, respected and loved by the entire school community.
“News of the tragedy was given to staff and students on Monday. We will be holding commemorative assemblies next week to celebrate Kim’s work and achievements here. Her death is a huge blow and she will be greatly missed by all of us.’’
Mrs Sumner used to teach at Colne Valley High School, again helping pupils with special educational needs..
She was also a member of the Huddersfield Teachers’ Netball Club for many years.
Mrs Sumner remarried last March. Before she remarried she was known as Kim Griffiths.
She had lots of friends and loved to go skiing.
The tragedy happened as the five friends were returning from a half-term holiday skiing trip on the continent.
Two women travelling in the car were hurt, but their injuries are not life-threatening
The five were in a Ford Focus hatchback car that careered off the London-bound carriageway between junctions 1 and 2 close to the M25.
No other vehicle was involved in the crash and the car ended up in a field.
The tragedy happened at 4.50am on Saturday morning and the crash scene was next to a small village called West Kingsdown and close to London Golf Club.
The London-bound carriageway was closed between junction 3, the M26 junction, and junction 1, the M25 junction at Swanley, for about five hours causing long tailbacks. It re-opened at 10.15am after police accident investigation experts had finished working at the scene.
