EVERETT — The rows of folding chairs were filled with loved ones beneath a grove of cedar and fir.
As pleasant and warm as the sunny fall afternoon was, everyone wished they were somewhere else.
On Wednesday, another 13 names were added to Snohomish County’s DUI victims’ memorial wall.
Among the new tiles were the names of a college student, a teacher, an artist and an office worker, people who through no fault of their own died in accidents caused by drunken drivers.
They were 16 to 62 years old. They included teens with dreams and parents nearing retirement.
The wall at McCollum Park is not meant only to remember DUI victims. It also is to remind people about the perils of drinking and driving, Snohomish County DUI and Target Zero Task Force chairman Conrad Thompson said.
Thompson takes heart in telling the story of a mother who brings her children to the wall as soon as they get their learner’s permit. He hopes others will do the same and that it will make a lasting impression.
“There is no silver-bullet solution,” he said. “We need every tool in the box.”
There are now 125 names on the wall, which was erected in 2001.
Frank Blair attended the ceremony with his wife.
His daughter, Sheena Blair, 24, was among those whose names were added to the wall.
The Tacoma resident and her friend, Martin A. Ramirez, were killed last March by a suspected drunken driver who was headed the wrong way on Broadway under the 41st Street overpass in Everett. A Bothell woman has been charged with vehicular homicide.
“We think of you constantly,” he said, after studying her tile on the brick wall. “We miss you desperately. We love you eternally.”
Coleen Cooper lost her 16-year-old daughter, Janelle, who was hit and killed by a drunk driver as she walked along the sidewalk at 164th Street SW on May 23, 2008
She urged the array of uniformed officers standing by the victims’ families to remain vigilant in getting drunk drivers off the roads.
“Please don’t stop,” she said. “Don’t stop going after these people.”
Law enforcement and traffic safety leaders vowed to do just that.
“We are making progress,” Washington Traffic Safety Commission Director Lowell Porter said. “We know we can do more.”
Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.
On the wall
Thirteen more names were added to Snohomish County’s DUI victims’ memorial wall Wednesday. They are Bradley Daniel Agerup, Melissa Ann Agerup, Douglas C. Allen, Sheena M. Blair, Jeanette M. Cline Manske, Janelle Louise Cooper, Kurt Emery Gessner, Joshua Michael Haggerton, Marco Lopez-Silva, Elisa Kaye Older, Martin A. Ramirez, Hilda Margarita Woods and Thomas Jeffrey Woods.
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