Tragedy after Pol's office party

Tragedy struck following an office holiday party, leaving Margaret Bartichek, a 74-year-old grandmother and former long-time staff member to Joseph Crowley, dead, and police charging fellow Crowley staff member Eileen Gillespie, 69, with Driving While Intoxicated (DWI) and vehicular manslaughter.
During the early-morning hours of Wednesday, December 20, Gillespie was driving the wrong way down 69th Street near 35th Avenue in Jackson Heights, according to police, when another vehicle struck her car, forcing it to slam into a parked car.
Gillespie and passenger Bartichek, both of whom were returning to their respective homes in Middle Village after Crowley’s office party in the Bronx, were taken to Elmhurst General Hospital where Bartichek was pronounced dead and Gillespie was reported in stable condition.
As The Queens Courier went to press, it was unclear when Gillespie would be released from the hospital, and the District Attorney had not filed charges.
However, sources indicated that charges could come sometime late on Wednesday.
Bartichek worked for Crowley for 18 years until she retired earlier this year, and he said she was a hard-working employee.
&#8220Peggy [Bartichek] dedicated her life to public service,” Crowley said in a statement Wednesday afternoon. &#8220She was a strong presence in the lives of so many people she helped through her work until her retirement last year.”
Crowley also considered Bartichek a close friend, as she attended his wedding and the baptism of his children.
&#8220I am deeply shocked and saddened to learn of Peggy’s death, and my thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends,” he said.
Bartichek is survived by her sons Brian and John, her daughters-in-law Laurie and Debbie and her grandchildren, Joseph and Brian.