Clark College grieves dean’s death in accident

Clark College administrators, faculty, staff and students continued to respond Monday to news of the weekend death of Alex Montoya, dean of enrollment services.

Montoya, 38, died in a vehicle-related accident Saturday near Scappoose, Ore.

Condolence messages to Montoya’s family — including his wife, Shanda Diehl, also a Clark administrator – are being routed to the school’s human resources department.

A Montoya-Diehl children’s scholarship fund for their five children will be established through the Clark College Foundation, the school said on Monday. In light of Montoya’s death, outgoing Vice President Rassoul Dastmozd asked that a farewell party slated for Wednesday be cancelled, and the college agreed.

A wake for Montoya will be held 4 to 7 p.m. Friday at the Hamilton-Mylan Funeral Home, 302 W. 11th St. in Vancouver.

A funeral service will be held at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Trinity Lutheran Church, 309 W. 39th St.

A moment of silence will be observed during Clark’s commencement ceremony on Thursday.

“It is overwhelmingly sad that — during our ultimate celebration of student success — a man who played such an important role in supporting those students will not be with us,” President Bob Knight wrote in a campus email message.

The Columbia County, Ore., Sheriff’s Office reported that Montoya fell from a pickup driven by Vancouver resident Nicholas James Kay, 26.

Kay remained in the Columbia County Jail on Monday evening with bail set at $5,625. He was arrested on suspicion of criminal negligent homicide and driving under the influence of intoxicants.