ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – An Oakville woman in her 40s died Friday morning after being struck by a passing vehicle; her three children witnessed the tragedy.
The accident happened around 8:20 a.m. at the intersection of Telegraph Road and Greymonte Estates Drive, according to a spokesperson for the St. Louis County Police Department.
Gary Schick, who lives near the intersection, watched as police arrived at the scene.
“All of the sudden, I seen them put a sheet over somebody and said, ‘This can’t be good; this can’t be good,’” he said.
Investigators said the victim stopped on Telegraph Road and stepped out of her vehicle. She was then hit and killed. Three children, ages 10 to 15, were in the car with their mother at the time.
“To have your mother be killed right out in front of you, that was terrible,” Schick said.
The 38-year-old driver who allegedly hit the woman stopped and is cooperating with police.
But now a neighborhood grieves a tremendous loss.
“A wonderful mom to her three beautiful (kids), she was a wonderful sister, a wonderful daughter,” said Eric Depke, whose family are friends of the victim and her children. “She cared about anybody and everybody.”
Fr. Patrick Hambrough, pastor at Queen of All Saints in Oakville, said she was a special kind of person.
“…She was a selfless mother who lived for her family and everyone she encountered,” he said. “Marvelous woman. Very prayerful. Very faithful. Very much a servant.”
Hambrough said she volunteered at the school, raised money for the athletic association, and was joyful and had a great sense of humor.
As he prepared for an outside vigil on parish grounds Friday night, he talked about his message to her friends who will need their faith to take them through these trying times.
“I pray and I trust that when I get to the Kingdom and God says, ‘Here’s what I did, here’s why I did it.’ Oh, okay that makes sense now, I get it and I understand what your plan was, cause right now I don’t,” he said.
To make things even harder on everyone, today was the birthday of one of her children.