EASLEY — Two Pickens High School students died Friday morning after the vehicle they were riding in struck an icy patch of highway and careened sideways into oncoming traffic.

Leonard “L.J.”Gillespie, 17, and James Jonathan “John” Gillespie, 15, of 206 Holder Street, in Pickens, both died at the scene of the two-vehicle collision that occurred around 7:50 a.m. on S.C. 8 at John Robinson Hill, Pickens County Coroner Kandy Kelley said.

S.C. Highway Patrol Lance Corporal Kathy Hiles said the 1998 Ford Explorer in which the two students were passengers was traveling west on S.C. 8, just outside Easley, when it struck a patch of ice across the roadway, causing the vehicle to lose control and cross sideways into the oncoming traffic lane.

The vehicle then was hit on the passenger’s side by a Ford F-550 box truck driven by 33-year-old Douglas Edwards, of Easley, Hiles said.

Edwards, who was not wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident, was taken to Greenville Memorial Hospital with what is believed to be non-life threatening injuries, she said.

The Explorer was driven by the boys’ mother, Barbara Gillespie, 33, of Pickens. She was airlifted to Greenville Memorial Hospital and was discharged Sunday, Sandy Dees, a spokesperson with the hospital, said.

Mrs. Gillespie was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the accident.

A statement released by interim Pickens County School District Dr. Mendel H. Stewart said that the school and the district are grieving the deaths of the two students.

“Along with everyone in our district, I am greatly saddened over the tragic deaths of two Pickens High students,” Stewart said in the statement. “Our thoughts and prayers are especially with the Gillespie family as they have lost two sons.”

Stewart said in the statement that grief counselors from area schools, churches and the community are assisting students face the death of their fellow students and friends.

“We are also keeping the many Pickens High students who have lost close friends in our prayers,” he said in the statement.

Marion Lawson, principal of Pickens High School, said in a written statement that the children were excellent students who received high praises from their teachers and who were involved with not only their school curriculum, but also in other school activities.

“Leonard and John were good boys,” Lawson said in his statement. “Both were quiet, respectful and hardworking.

“Besides being a committed student like his older brother, John was also involved in extra-curricular activities,” he said. “He was a football player on our C-team this year and on the middle school team last year.”

In a press statement issued by Pickens High School Assistant Principal Dr. Linda Winukowski, the staff and students of the school continue to grieve the deaths of their fellow students and the school plans to accept donations from the community to assist with funeral expenses.

“Following the solemn tone we experienced Friday after the tragic deaths of the Gillespie brothers, (Monday was) a fairly normal day,” she said in the statement. “Certainly, the loss has never left our minds. Our guidance staff and grief counselors from the community are on standby if students need them.”

The school will be accepting donations for the Gillespie Fund, and contributions may be dropped off at the school or mailed to Pickens High School, 111 Blue Flame Drive, Pickens, SC, 29671.

Anyone needing additional information can call the school at 864-878-8730.

The two boys, who were wearing their seatbelts at the time of the collision, died of blunt force trauma, Kelley said.

Three people have died on Pickens County roadways this year.