Sam Cullen and Suzie Kedar, Long Island couple from Farmingdale, die in motorcycle crash in Washington state
Two former Farmingdale High School students — inseparable friends who later fell in love — were killed last week when the motorcycle they were riding on crashed in Washington state.
Sam Cullen, 28, a U.S. Navy petty officer second class, and his girlfriend Suzie Kedar, 27, both grew up on Long Island. Cullen's mother, Shari, said the two were “destined to be together” and were on the brink of getting engaged when they died.
They were driving a black 2008 Harley-Davidson FX motorcycle on Whidbey Island May 2 when they crashed and their bike struck a pole, shortly after 8 p.m., Island County sheriff’s Det. Ed Wallace said.
The cause of the crash is under investigation, as is standard for any fatal accident. Neither drugs nor alcohol are believed to be factors in the crash, police said.
Both were wearing helmets at the time of the crash. Cullen was declared dead at the scene. Kedar died a short time later at the hospital from her injuries.
Sam’s parents, Tim and Shari Cullen, of North Massapequa, said the couple had gone for a motorcycle ride to watch the sunset on Whidbey Island, north of Seattle.
The couple had lived off base near the Whidbey Naval Air Station since Cullen was stationed there in September. Cullen was assigned to the base after a nine-month deployment on the USS Delbert D. Black destroyer in the Middle East.
The families are now waiting for the return of the couple's remains Thursday so they can hold their funerals. They want the two to be buried next to each other at Pinelawn Cemetery.
“We have the funeral and the cemetery, we just don’t have our children,” Shari Cullen said.
Tim and Shari Cullen hold a photo of their son Sam and his girlfriend, Suzie Kedar, at their North Massapequa home Wednesday. Credit: Howard Schnapp
“He promised me he’d be safe because he wouldn’t be deployed” overseas again, his mother sobbed Wednesday. “He was so careful. He promised me he’d be safe on his bike. It was just an unspeakable tragedy.”
The couple, who were friends at Farmingdale High, began dating after high school. Cullen had just picked up the engagement ring two days before the crash and sent a picture to his family. He planned to propose next month, they said.
Kedar had helped look at engagement rings, but didn’t know when the proposal was coming, said her sister, Shivanie Varickamackal, 31, of Jericho. She looked forward to introducing her newborn daughter to her sister after FaceTiming with her nearly every day.
“I felt the need to be protective of her,” Varickamackal said. “Hearing this news breaks my heart. There are no words describing losing someone so young who had so much life ahead of her.”
Chiwanie Varickamackal holds a photo of her sister Suzie Kedar and boyfriend, Sam Cullen, as she sits with her husband, Don, Wednesday. Credit: Howard Schnapp
She said her sister was working at Whidbey Coffee, which donated a single day of sales to a fundraiser for Kedar’s family.
The U.S. Navy made arrangements to return Cullen’s body while the family turned to a fundraiser to pay for transport of Kedar’s body back to Long Island. Within about 24 hours, friends, family and community members raised the money needed to bring her home. The total raised is now more than $50,000.
Kedar was the youngest of four girls. Cullen had a twin brother and was one of six children. Since high school and before they started dating they were inseparable friends, their family members said.
Varickamackal said Suzie was her youngest sister, but mature for her age, bold and outspoken. She hated getting dressed up until one day she asked her sister for help, she suspected, to go out on a date with Sam.
“The way they looked at each other, you could tell they felt infatuated and were in love with each other,” Varickamackal said.
Cullen was a two-time all-county wrestler at Farmingdale who was offered a scholarship at SUNY Oswego before he enlisted in the Navy. Kedar was at all of his matches and became a part of the family, all through high school, Shari Cullen said.
They both moved to Jacksonville, Florida, and San Diego while Cullen was stationed at different bases in the Navy. They loved animals and had seven parakeets and a turtle, and hoped to start out living in Washington.
“I knew, and Sam knew too, that they were best friends and destined to be together. I knew she would be my daughter someday,” Shari Cullen said. “She was his queen and he was her knight in shining armor and they had their whole life ahead of them. It's terrible; we really lost two beautiful souls.”
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
