Pike Creek love story cut short by motorcycle crash

Stephen Senn III had a crush on Amy Wallace since the two went to A.I. du Pont High School over a decade ago, but it was not until last year that they reconnected and fell in love.

Their love happened quickly, yet was enduring. At first, they made adventures out of trips to the Brandywine and other spots that Wallace had never been before. Then they moved in together and planned for a future that would include marriage and eventually two children, both of whom they'd already picked out names for.

"Every day, I loved him more and more," said the 31-year-old marketing manager from Pike Creek.

Now, Wallace is facing a different future. One without Senn.

Senn, also 31, was killed Feb. 5 in a motorcycle crash on New Linden Hill Road in Pike Creek. On his way to Wawa, he failed to negotiate a left curve and crashed his 2000 Triumph TT600 motorcycle that he had just purchased into a guardrail, according to the Delaware State Police. The helmet he was wearing couldn't save him as he was ejected from the bike.

Senn's family and friends have embraced his girlfriend in the days since his death. The funeral Saturday at St. Thomas the Apostle Church was a chance to celebrate and remember Senn's life, while also welcoming Wallace into his family.

"I knew that she would be my daughter-in-law," said his mother, Bunny Christopher. "It just didn't work out that way, but that doesn't change the way I feel about her."

Christopher and Wallace said they are both holding onto the last moments they had with Senn. Those moments were normal – events and conversations that could easily be taken for granted in any other situation.

On the Friday before the crash, Christopher, 60, drove with Senn to Harrisburg so that he could purchase his new motorcycle. Senn had always loved biking – whether it be atop a Harley-Davidson or spinning on a BMX bike. He was adventurous and free-spirited, his family said.

OBITUARY: Stephen F. Senn III

Senn told his mother on the drive into Pennsylvania of his plans to settle down with Wallace and to begin an apprenticeship to become an electrician in March.

"He was kind of letting me know this was it," Christopher said. "He had dated other girls before, but this Amy was the one."

After the two brought the motorcycle home to Pike Creek, Senn spent the next day buying a helmet and gear and then went to Outback Steakhouse for dinner with Wallace. They took leftovers home and settled in for a movie.

Just after midnight, Senn needed to go to Wawa and was eager to make the trip on his new motorcycle. He kissed Wallace "goodbye" and left.

Wallace thought nothing of his late-night trip until her 12-year-old dog, named Buda, awoke from a deep sleep and started barking at Senn's pillow. She reassured Buda that Senn would be home soon.

But, as time ticked on, Wallace grew worried.

"I didn't want to call him because I didn't want him to answer the phone on the bike," she said.

Instead, she sent a text message. It never went through.

Wallace called local police and hospitals, and when no one could give her answers, she drove on the path he would have taken to the Wawa. By 1:45 a.m., about an hour after Senn's crash, she came upon the intersection and saw it was blocked off by state police.

"I was just praying he was alive," she said.

Christopher later that night broke the news to Wallace and Senn's father, Stephen Senn Jr., that he had been pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

They were all heartbroken.

"He's my baby, and my baby is gone," Christopher said. "It's just not something that should happen. I shouldn't be cremating my son. My son should be cremating me."

Wallace is now trying to hold onto a year's worth of memories, such as one from last summer when the couple went swimming in a river. She cut her foot in the water, and Senn offered to carry her on his back over the large boulders.

But even when they got to flat land, he refused to put her down.

"He carried me for an hour and a half around the trails on his back," she said. "I kept saying, 'You can put me down now.' For me, it was like a scary roller coaster ride, but we were just having so much fun."

Neither she nor the rest of Senn's family knows how they will go on without him.

"He was just a one in a million person," Wallace said.

Contact Jessica Masulli Reyes at (302) 324-2777, jmreyes@delawareonline.com or Twitter @jessicamasulli.