Driver killed in I-65 crash: Brownstown man part of 2-vehicle wreck

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Tribune staff reports

A Brownstown man who died Saturday afternoon in a two-vehicle wreck on Interstate 65 near the Walesboro exit will be buried Thursday in Edinburgh.

Tom F. Pickett, 53, died at the scene of the wreck, which involved two vehicles that hydroplaned after a downpour, said Lt. Matt Harris with the Columbus Police Department.

The accident, reported at about 1:20 p.m. Saturday, was about 2 miles north of the Walesboro exit in Bartholomew County.

Pickett was driving a 2004 GMC Sierra truck, which flipped on its top into a ditch full of water, Harris said. Several motorists passing by stopped and were able to flip the truck back over before police arrived, Harris said. Pickett was alone in the vehicle when the accident happened.

The occupants of the other vehicle, a passenger car, were not injured, Harris said. That vehicle came to a stop on the side of the interstate.

The northbound lanes of the interstate were closed for about an hour Saturday for the scene to be cleared.

Pickett was a longtime employee of Swifty Oil Co. and most recently had been working for Wischmeier Trucking in Tampico as an IT analyst.

Lesli Stevens, a co-worker from Brownstown, said she was still a little in a state of shock at Pickett’s death.

“He was a very hard-working person who would do anything to help others,” she said.

She said he put his job and family, which included a mother and several siblings, first.

The funeral for the New Albany native will be at 1 p.m. Thursday at Edinburgh Apostolic Church. Calling will be from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday at the church and one hour before the service Thursday. Burial will be at Rest Haven Cemetery.

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