Spotswood Sweethearts Laid To Rest Together Today

Nicole Surace, 18, and Jeff Szatkowski Jr., 17 will be laid to rest together today following separate funerals which could cause some delays for central Jersey drivers.

It was a sea of blue and gold as friends and family attended their respective wakes yesterday. “It’s so sad. Just seeing all the varsity jackets lets you know how young they were,” Alexandra Van Orden, 21, of Helmetta told MyCentralJersey.com.

The school district provided shuttle buses so students could attend both wakes. The Christopher Ward Foundation provided  "Jeff & Nicole" blue and gold rubber band bracelets to both wakes. Ward, a physical education teacher at Bridgewater-Raritan High School, died at the age of 24 in a 2010 car crash.

Surace's funeral takes places at St. Bartholomew’s Roman Catholic Church in East Brunswick while Szatkowski's is at the Brunswick Memorial Funeral Home. They will both be buried at the Holy Cross Burial Park on Cranbury Road in South Brunswick.

South Brunswick Police warn that the funeral procession will cause traffic delays and closures from 12 p.m. to 2 p.m. South River Road (Route 535)  in Cranbury is subject to closure from Deans Rhode Hall Road and Dunhams Corner Road.

The couple, who had been dating for over a year. died in a crash on  Saturday night when Szatkowski’s 2004 Mustang hit a telephone pole on Dutch Road in East Brunswick, then overturned in a wooded area before striking a tree and landing on its roof.

MORE COVERAGE:

• Communities mourn teenage sweethearts killed in car accident over Thanksgiving weekend / MyCenteralJersey.com