Father: Son killed in crash was Lancaster honor student

LANCASTER – The Lancaster High School senior killed Thursday in a car crash on Lithopolis Road held two jobs and worked 50 to 60 hours a week to try and afford college, his father said.

"He was very, very smart," Mark Atkinson said of his son, also named Mark, who worked at a Canal Winchester automotive business and at Fat Cat Pizza. "He was on the A-B honor roll."

He said the younger Atkinson was coming home from the automotive business when he died and that he had stayed late to help a co-worker.

The deceased was Mark Logan Atkinson, 18, and his father is Mark Lee Atkinson.

"We always called him Logan around the house, but he was known as Mark everywhere else," the elder Atkinson said.

Mark Atkinson said his son might have tried to pass another vehicle on Lithopolis Road near Pickerington Road around 10:45 p.m. when he lost control of his 2005 Infiniti G35 by overcompensating and crashed into a tree. He said oncoming traffic also might have been a factor.

"I just don't understand it," Mark Atkinson said of his son's death. "This is just terrible. He was a mentor to his little brother, and he had so many friends."

He was supposed to graduate high school May 31. While he wanted to go to college, his father said there were no definite plans yet. But Mark Atkinson was definite about the positive traits his son possessed.

"People have always had nothing but good to say about him," he said. "I would wonder how in the world he would pick up this stuff. Did I teach him this? I don't know."

Mark Atkinson said his son was alone in the car, but some friends were following him in another vehicle when he crashed.

The Ohio Highway Patrol said the youth was eastbound on Lithopolis Road and wearing a seat belt when he crashed. He died from his injuries at the scene.

Fat Cat Pizza owner Kristi Blankenship said he worked for her for three years.

"He was the ultimate kid," she said. "He was the most thoughtful kid you could ever imagine. He had a constant smile. He always wanted to work and would do anything that needed done."

The crash remains under investigation.

jbarron@lancastereaglegazette.com

740-681-4340

Twitter: @JeffDBarron