Names added to county’s DUI memorial wall

EVERETT — Sometimes, the weather changes as if the sky is looking into people’s hearts. Or maybe it’s just that people find solace when the sky seems to be crying or smiling just for them.

As soft rain fell, people arrived at McCollum Park in south Everett near Mill Creek on Thursday afternoon. They gathered near a memorial wall, surrounded by trees, that holds names of victims killed by those driving under the influence in Snohomish County. Four names — Rick Paul Andreeff, Edwina Eastman, Bert Wayne Erickson and Dick Orville Withee — have recently been added, bringing the number of names on the wall to 112.

Families of the four victims braved the chilly weather to remember their loved ones, hoping that no more names will be added to the wall, created in 2001. They joined officials, firefighters, paramedics and Washington State Patrol troopers who called for more education to prevent another tragedy.

“It’s senseless because it’s 100 percent preventable,” Deanna Dawson, the county’s executive director, told the victims’ families who took refuge from the rain under a tent.

The rain started falling harder and harder.

“Today our thoughts are with you. Our prayers are with you,” Dawson said.

As the sound of the rain dominated the area, Joan Cavagnaro, the county’s chief criminal deputy prosecutor, mourned the four lives who were taken away too soon.

“Say their names out loud because they are missed in this world,” she said.

The rain turned to hail, stopping Cavagnaro for a few minutes. Under the tent, a man closed his eyes to hold back tears, and two women wiped away tears with tissue.

The hail turned back into rain.

“Can you hear me out there?” Cavagnaro asked.

Then, she said the four victims’ names out loud, one by one.

DUIs are not accidents; they are caused by bad choices that people make, said Jan Schem­enauer, the county’s DUI victim panel coordinator. Educating people, especially teens, will make a difference, she said.

“I’m here with you because my husband is on that wall, also,” Schemenauer said pointing at the wall covered by a black cloth.

The rain got softer and softer.

The black cloth was removed; 112 names on the wall appeared.

Dawn Withee, a daughter of Dick Orville Withee, spoke to the crowd on behalf of her mother, Linda Withee, who couldn’t bring herself to speak.

Her father would’ve turned 60 on Wednesday, Dawn Withee said. The Gold Bar man was killed on U.S. 2 on Dec. 27, 2005, when a driver under the influence of prescription medicine hit Withee’s car.

“We all greatly miss him,” Dawn Withee said.

That it was not just an accident, but one involving an impaired driver made it hard for the family to move on, Withee said.

“It didn’t make sense because my dad was a mentor to many people,” she said. “He led by example.”

The rain let up toward the end of ceremony. The sun came out.

“I thought God was crying with all of us,” Linda Withee said.

After the ceremony, people had cocoa and cookies. Raindrops continued to fall from trees.

Reporter Yoshiaki Nohara: 425-339-3029 or ynohara@heraldnet.com.