Gerald Covello was widely known for work in youth baseball programs.
By: Jennifer Potash and Rachel Silverman
State police are investigating a traffic accident that claimed the life of a Princeton Township man Thursday in Hamilton Township.
Gerald R. Covello, 50, of Christopher Drive died at the site of the accident near the interchange of Routes 29 and 129 near the border of Hamilton and Trenton, said State Police Sgt. Gerald Lewis.
Mr. Covello was driving a white, 15-passenger van on Route 29 northbound when the van went down a steep, grassy embankment coming to a stop at a fence and on top of one of the NJ Transit’s River Line’s tracks, according to police.
He left the van, crossed the northbound lanes of the highway near the Duck Island power plant and Lamberton Road and was struck by a black Nissan Pathfinder driven by a woman, according to the account of a witness. Mr. Covello then got up and walked to the median, according to State Police.
The witness, Horatio Adams who is a truck driver for the City of Trenton, said the motorist who struck Mr. Covello stopped but Mr. Covello waved her on, indicating that he was unhurt, according to published reports.
Sgt. Lewis said Mr. Covello then ran into the southbound lanes of Route 129 and into the side of a passing tractor-trailer owned by J.B. Hunt Co., killing him.
The cause of the entire incident remains under investigation, Sgt. Lewis said. Investigators are probing whether the accident occurred due to a medical event Mr. Covello was a diabetic or some other reason, he said.
Mr. Covello was the CEO and founder of proServices a software quality assurance company based in Trenton with offices in Hamilton, Warren, Newtown, Pa., and Maryland, according to the company’s Web site. The private company has between 10 and 40 employees with revenues of $5 million, according to the Web site.
Those who knew Mr. Covello retain fond memories of the former father of three, business executive and sports aficionado.
Jack Roberts, director of the Princeton Recreation Department, praised Mr. Covello’s coaching skills and his efforts to enhance youth baseball programs.
"He was almost a natural-born recreation type," Mr. Roberts said. "He had great instincts about how to run a sports program."
Mr. Roberts also commended Mr. Covello’s strong sense of teamwork.
"He was very concerned about the least talented child," Mr. Roberts said, "more so than winning."
At a meeting of the Program Committee of the Princeton Regional Board of Education on Monday afternoon, attendees voiced shock at the tragic loss of a fellow Princeton resident and expressed condolences for the Covello family.
"We’ve already reached out to the family," said Princeton Regional Schools’ Assistant Superintendent for Community Relations Lewis Goldstein.
"Services are available to all students," he added, referring to psychological support resources. "We have an open-door policy."

