{"id":179506,"date":"2026-04-29T19:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-04-29T19:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/179506\/"},"modified":"2026-04-29T19:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-04-29T19:16:09","slug":"coopersburg-man-killed-in-interstate-78-crash-remembered","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/179506\/","title":{"rendered":"Coopersburg man killed in Interstate 78 crash remembered"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A Coopersburg man who died last week in a crash on Interstate 78 is being remembered as a \u201ckind soul.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ryan Gretz, a 2022 Southern Lehigh graduate, was known for his \u201cteam spirit\u201d and the love he shared for his family and friends, according to an online fundraiser that has been started to help his family.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mcall.com\/2026\/04\/24\/lehigh-county-man-killed-in-tractor-trailer-crash-on-i-78-police-say\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Gretz, 22, died April 23 after a crash on Interstate 78 in Lower Macungie Township.<\/a> He had turned 22 just days earlier.<\/p>\n<p>Gretz played football and was known for his dedication, teamwork and spirit, his family <a href=\"https:\/\/sauconsource.com\/2026\/04\/29\/ryan-w-gretz-22-obituary-brought-to-you-by-heintzelman-funeral-home\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">wrote in his obituary<\/a>. He was also a welder at a business in Souderton, and he took immense pride in his craft, his obituary states.<\/p>\n<p>His friends wrote on a <a href=\"http:\/\/gofund.me\/7a9f53ba2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">GoFundMe page<\/a> that he had an \u201cinfectious smile\u201d and put others first. He cared deeply about his family and friends, they said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhether he was cheering on his teammates, helping a friend through a tough time, or simply sharing a smile, Ryan\u2019s warmth and generosity left a lasting impression,\u201d the GoFundMe reads. \u201cThe community has come together to remember him, sharing stories of his compassion and the positive impact he had on so many lives.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>His family said he found the greatest joys in the simple things, such as the bond with his family, love for sports and his dogs. He was engaged at the time of his death.<\/p>\n<p>The GoFundMe campaign had raised $25,000 of its $35,000 goal as of Wednesday. The money will be used to help offset funeral costs and go back to the family.<\/p>\n<p>Those who wish to donate may do so at <a href=\"https:\/\/gofund.me\/7a9f53ba2\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">gofund.me\/7a9f53ba2<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Coopersburg man who died last week in a crash on Interstate 78 is being remembered as a&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":179507,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[153,155,154,5943,202,433,182,2754,5944,139,28,4237,432,2795],"class_list":["post-179506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem","tag-bethlehem-headlines","tag-bethlehem-news","tag-coopersburg","tag-crime-and-public-safety","tag-lehigh-county","tag-local-news","tag-lower-macungie-township","tag-lower-milford-township","tag-news","tag-pennsylvania","tag-saucon-valley","tag-top-stories-tmc","tag-upper-saucon-township"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=179506"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/179506\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/179507"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=179506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=179506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=179506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}