Rowley reporter killed after her car, van collide

(Correction: Because of a reporting error, a story in yesterday's City & Region section about a vehicle collision that killed a reporter in Rowley misspelled the name of Marc Maravalli, her newspaper's publisher and editor.)

ROWLEY -- A popular reporter for Rowley's town newspaper -- heralded as the backbone of the company staff -- was killed yesterday when her car and a van carrying disabled adults collided at Route 1 and Wethersfield Street.

Ironically, Liz Ichizawa, 49, had written a posthumous profile this summer of longtime town resident Margaret Smith, who was killed July 9 in an accident at the same intersection.

''It is a real trouble spot," said Marc Maravelli, publisher and editor of The Town Common, the year-old weekly newspaper that Ichizawa had worked for since it began.

Maravelli, whose home and newspaper office are a block away from the intersection, said he found out about the accident when his son called him on his cellphone after recognizing Ichizawa's car while on a school bus heading home.

Maravelli said he went to the accident scene, where he saw severe damage to the driver's side door of Ichizawa's tan Ford Escort.

Ichizawa was pronounced dead at Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport, where she had been taken by ambulance after the 1:15 p.m. accident, according to a statement released by Rowley Police Chief Kevin Barry.

The six passengers and the driver of the van were treated at several area hospitals for minor injuries, hospital personnel said.

Barry did not identify the driver of the van or the company that owned it, citing an ongoing investigation.

A police officer said the department would not release further information until today.

Ichizawa, an Ipswich native who also worked as a substitute teacher in Ipswich public schools, was on her way to an interview at the campus of Triton Regional Schools when the accident occurred, Maravelli said.

He described Ichizawa as the backbone of his newspaper's staff of 10.

''She had been with me since I started the paper a year ago, and she was very dedicated," Maravelli said, noting Ichizawa had written for several area newspapers and for newspapers in Montana, where she received her master's degree in journalism from the University of Montana.

Scott Hambley, a Rowley resident who recently became friends with Ichizawa through her reporting on several town issues, said she had quickly established herself as a reporter.

Thomas Heidgerd, a member of Rowley's Zoning Board of Appeals, said he was impressed with her energy and diligence.

''Just last week at a Board of Selectmen's meeting during which she and I sat next to each other, we chuckled about how she accomplished so much and still managed to be at meetings like that until nearly 10 p.m.," Heidgerd said. ''To say she was the cornerstone of the newspaper would be an understatement."

Ichizawa grew up in Ipswich, where her parents still live, Maravelli said. She was married to Masanori Ichizawa and had two daughters, 7 and 13. She spoke fluent Japanese and had taught English in Japan, where the couple lived from 1994 to 2001.

Caroline Louise Cole can be reached at cole@globe.com.