Adelaide Hills tree fall victim identified as much-loved Seymour College teacher Judy Ditter

The woman killed by a falling tree branch in Stirling on Wednesday has been identified as a teacher who had a “big heart”.

The scene of the Stirling tragedy, where Judy Ditter, 59, died after a tree fell on her car on Mt Barker Road. Picture: Mike Burton

The Adelaide Hills woman killed in a freak accident at Stirling when a tree branch fell on her car this week was a much-loved grandmother and teacher at Seymour College.

Judy Ditter, 59, from Crafers, was driving a white Toyota west on Mount Barker Road near Gould Road, when a branch fell on top of her car just before 10.30pm Wednesday. A 26-year-old Aldgate woman who was in the passenger seat was treated in hospital for non life-threatening injuries.

Seymour College’s acting principal Vanessa Browning issued a notice to students and staff alerting them their big-hearted and long-standing staff member, Old Collegian and past parent had been tragically killed in the Adelaide Hills.

“Many of our girls have been fortunate to have Judy as a junior school teacher and a number of our staff members have worked closely with her,” Ms Browning said.

“She made close connections with a range of people during her time at Seymour – she loved our students, she loved our staff and she loved our college. Judy had a big heart, always looking out to help someone in need, particularly those girls who found learning hard.”

Ms Ditter left behind a husband, Bruce, and three children – Sophie, Phoebe and Nick. She also had a grandson, Oscar.

Emergency services at the scene of the freak accident in Stirling. Picture: Harvey Biggs/Nine News Adelaide

Counselling services have been made available to students at the school, as well as parents and staff members during the grieving process.

“We will join together in due course, as a community, to celebrate Judy’s life,” Ms Browning said.

“As a committed Christian, Judy’s strong faith has been important to her through her life and will provide a great source of comfort to her family at this difficult time.

“She will forever be remembered with great affection.”

The incident, which happened just opposite Stirling Woodyard as gusty winds lashed the Hills, sparked debate on how local governments dealt with large trees near roads. Adelaide Hills Council’s acting mayor Nathan Daniell said his thoughts were with Ms Ditter’s family.

“We understand the concerns of our community and assure them that Adelaide Hills Council has a strong focus and commitment to proactive tree management in our area,” he said.

He said tree inspections were carried out “within the limits of the resources available to the council”, but staff were able to identify trees that posed a heightened risk to the public.

‘Our hearts go out to her family’

A man who lost his daughter in a tragic tree branch fall incident a decade ago has expressed his sorrow to the family of Judy Ditter, saying his “heart goes out to them”.

Rebecca Jolly, 20, was driving on Greenhill Road at Hazelwood Park in January 2010 when a 7m tree limb fell from a grey box gum tree on her car.

She died from her injuries days later in hospital.

Miss Jolly’s father, Mark Jolly, said he felt so sorry, for Ms Ditter’s family.

“It would be absolutely awful and our hearts go out to them,” he said. “I’m just so sorry.” Mr Jolly, of Ashton, said he still found the death of his daughter “senseless”, a decade later.

“It’s when random acts of nature like this choose to have a go at you personally, it’s very traumatic,” he said.

“Sometimes it’s nice to be able to point the finger at someone who’s responsible but effectively you just say it’s nature or God … and it’s a different sort of feeling.

“It's a terrible tragedy but the heart of it is you can’t test every tree … but the trees in the very busy roads, yes you need to have a good look at them, especially the older trees, just because, you never know.”

A coroner’s inquest into Miss Jolly’s death made no recommendations.

“It is probably impractical to expect even that, within existing resources, every tree that might pose a risk … will be so inspected,” then-coroner Mark Johns concluded.

“Of course, when a risk has been drawn to a local authorities’ attention, then it is incumbent upon that authority to carry out a complete inspection of that risk in accordance with generally accepted standards.”

Originally published as Adelaide Hills tree fall victim identified as much-loved Seymour College teacher Judy Ditter