Brick Man Killed In Road Rage Crash Had Big Dreams, Family Says

BRICK, NJ — Sean Avon had gotten married May 21. He'd just gotten his dream job. At 26 years old, he was on the path to the life and the future he wanted.

On Friday, Avon's plans came to a halt. He was driving home from work late that evening when his prized 2012 Ford Mustang was hit head-on in a crash Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer called "a tragedy of epic proportions" for Avon and his family.

Billhimer said the crash that killed Avon resulted from a road rage incident between Avrohom Pam, 18, of Lakewood, and John Arendt Jr., 73, of Brick. Arendt was hospitalized after the crash, which started when Pam, who was driving a 2021 Ford van on Lanes Mills Road, hit Arendt's 2019 Honda CRV, sending the Honda into the oncoming lane of Lanes Mill Road, where it hit the Mustang.

Pam has been charged with vehicular homicide in the crash, Billhimer said.

Funeral services are set for Thursday evening for Avon, who grew up in Toms River but had lived in Brick for the last five years, according to his obituary on the O'Brien Funeral Home website.

Friends posting on a GoFundme campaign started to assist Avon's family and his bride, Jessica, remembered him as a great friend who was there when others needed him.

"Sean was a beautiful person who saw people where they were at and supported them in any way he could," Gabriella Pedersen wrote. "My life was better for having known him."

Alfred Foti, who worked with Avon, said: "This young guy really had a heart of gold. He thought of others. The world will miss this man. Not many like him."

Sean and Jessica were planning to celebrate their wedding with family and friends in October, wrote Heather Mae Wisser, who created the GoFundme.

"He was endlessly and unconditionally devoted to the love of his life, Jessica," his obituary said. "They had big plans for the future — a home, children and to be the best father and husband he could be. Sean was the hardest-working, most selfless man on this Earth. He would do anything for anyone at the drop of a hat."

He was an auto mechanic for Auto Lenders in Lakewood, his obituary said.

"It was his dream job and he was so proud of what he did," his obituary said. "Sean was always trying to better himself and his end goal was to own his own shop. When he was not working on the clock he was always working on his prized Mustang or Thunderbird or countless other projects."

Sean also enjoyed playing golf, was a New York Yankees fan, and was "extremely crafty and could fix or make anything out of whatever was nearby," his obituary said.

"Because of a 18-year-old and a 72-year-old getting into a fight on the road, so many lost a friend, a brother, and a soulmate," his family wrote. "His life was taken too soon."

Avon was an organ donor, his family said: "Sean passed away senselessly, but through tragedy was able to give a gift of sight to someone else."

"This just shows the kind of person Sean always was and continues to be, exceptional," his family wrote.

"We've known Sean for years and he was such a good and inspiring person," Susan Vliet wrote. "It was wonderful seeing him so happy with Jess and we were looking forward to their wedding celebration in October. We were all robbed of his presence and he was robbed of his life."

The GoFundme campaign had raised more than $33,000 as of Wednesday.

Visitation is fro 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. at O'Brien Funeral Home in Brick, with a service at 6:30 p.m.

In addition to his wife, Jessica, Sean is survived by his parents, Arthur and Janet Avon; his sister, Catherine Bird and her husband, Kyle; his mother-in-law Terri Culver; his grandmother, Ruth Manneback; his grandfather Arthur Avon; and many aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends who Sean considered family and his cherished dog, Benji. Sean was predeceased by his father-in-law, William Culver, his paternal grandmother Jean Avon; and his maternal grandfather Charles Manneback.