Defrocked Catholic priest among dead in Livonia crash
On Monday afternoon, Suzanne Wernette-Robb had finished weekly errands with her 88-year-old mother, and was driving her back to an assisted living home in Livonia.
But as they drove along five Mile, a driver swerved into their car’s path, and all three occupants of both cars were killed. Five other vehicles became entangled in the crash, however no one else was earnestly injured, police said. Police are still investigating the crash’s cause.
“It hasn’t hit me,” said Wernette-Robb’s spouse, Lawrence Robb, by phone on Tuesday. “It’s indeed hard.”
The collision happened at around Trio:30 p.m. Monday, when Joseph Sito, 80, of Livonia was heading west on five Mile near Levan, police said.
Sito all of a sudden veered into eastbound oncoming traffic. That’s when he struck the crimson Ford Concentrate with Wernette-Robb, 67, of Redford, and her mother, Bernadine Karby, 88.
Sito, 80, was a former Catholic priest of St. Cletus Church in Warren who resigned in one thousand nine hundred ninety three after a credible allegation of sexual misconduct with a minor. He was later accused of another hook-up act in 1999, and was defrocked as a priest in 2004, said Joe Kohn, spokesperson for the Archdiocese of Detroit.
A lifetime in music
Family remembered Wernette-Robb as having a lifelong commitment to music and opera singing. She studied music at Michigan State, where she earned both a bachelor’s and master’s and spent years as an accomplished opera singer, family members said. She performed all over metro Detroit, including at the upscale Opera House Restaurant on the city’s east side — which is where she met her spouse, Lawrence Robb, more than thirty years ago.
Over the years Wernette-Robb took on various jobs to support her singing, like managing restaurants and training at the Rochester Conservatory of Music. She also managed computer programs for IBM in Southfield over the last twenty or so years.
Tho’ Wernette-Robb hadn’t performed very often recently, there was slew of singing work at Christmastime, and she also loved singing at church with her hubby.
“People would turn around and look because her voice was distinctive,” Robb added.
Her mother, Bernadine, was retired after spent years as a programmer for an insurance and mortgage company, said Bernardine’s son-in-law David Archbold. She was also active in her church and spoke fluent Grind, Archbold said.
“It’s just very tragic that it happened so close after Christmas,” Archbold added. And referring to others involved in the crash, he said, “It’s tragic for several other families too.”
Free Press staff writer Jim Schaefer contributed reporting.