Kansas Highway Patrol Troopers and Douglas County Sheriff's officers examine the scene of a head-on collision a mile south of Lecompton on County Road 1029. Betty Irvin, of Lecompton, was killed in the collision Monday morning.

A Lecompton woman long known as a dedicated advocate for senior citizens was killed Monday morning in a head-on collision in northwestern Douglas County.

Betty J. Irvin, 51, was pronounced dead at the scene of the collision, which occurred about 7:15 a.m. on Douglas County Road 1029 near the intersection with 1851 Diagonal Road, or about 1.5 miles south of Lecompton.

Irvin was driving south in a 2001 Chevrolet when she collided with a 2000 Ford F-150 pickup truck that had crossed the center line, according to the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office.

The driver of the pickup, Michael A. Sluka, 22, Ottawa, was taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital, where he was treated and released.

Irvin was a case manager in the Lawrence office of the Jayhawk Area Agency on Aging, based in Topeka. “She was a very dedicated, dependable person,” said Brandon Smith-Ziph, case program manager for the agency and Irvin’s supervisor. “She was an excellent advocate for seniors.”

6News video: Head-on accident kills woman near Lecompton

Irvin’s co-workers learned about the accident about midmorning, Smith-Ziph said. “It was just very heartbreaking. We’re all in a deep shock. She was very well liked.”

Irvin also was very dedicated to her family, Smith-Ziph said. Her husband, Michael Irvin, is a graphic design coordinator at Kansas University, KU officials said.

The cause of the wreck was still being investigated late Monday by the Kansas Highway Patrol and sheriff’s officers. Both Irvin and Sluka were wearing seat belts, officers said.