By Shelley Grieshop
sgrieshop@dailystandard.com A Minster teen was killed Saturday evening after losing control of her car along state Route 362 east of the village.
Kathryn "Kate" Trushaw, 16, 95 Crestwood Drive, was pronounced dead at the scene by Auglaize County Coroner Dr. Thomas E. Freytag. She was a junior at Minster High School.
Trushaw, the daughter of Timothy and Julia (Stechschulte) Trushaw, was on her way home at 11:30 p.m. when the accident occurred, her mother said.
According to the report from the Wapakoneta post of the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the teenager was driving south on state Route 362 when her 1996 Ford Taurus slid off the right side of the road and struck a ditch. The car reportedly overturned and struck a tree before coming to rest.
Trushaw was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the vehicle, the report said. She was a very active student, a letter-winning athlete on the Minster golf team and a member of the yearbook staff. She also was a team leader of the Challenge Girls Club, an international Catholic organization that teaches leadership skills to girls ages 10-16.
"She was such a beautiful, young girl," her mother told The Daily Standard this morning. "She loved life and always saw the best in other people."
Julia Trushaw said her daughter loved to read and was interested in pursuing a college degree in clinical psychology.
"She loved life, she loved people and was very kind-hearted," her mother said, fighting back tears.
Besides her parents and grandparents, the teen also leaves behind four siblings, many friends and classmates. Counselors were on hand today at the school where many students and staff mourned the tragic loss of life.
"She was a ray of sunshine," high school Principal Carl Brown said this morning.
Brown said many students consoled one another during Sunday morning religion classes at St. Augustine Catholic Church, Minster, where Trushaw was a member. A memorial service also was held in her honor Sunday at the church.
Trushaw's funeral is slated for Thursday at the Minster church; the school will provide transportation for any interested students.
Trushaw's obituary appears on page 5A.
Her death marks the sixth traffic fatality in Auglaize County this year. Ten people have died on Mercer County roadways this year.
Fifteen people were killed across the state of Ohio during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, bringing the total fatalities this year to 830, up 23 from the same time period in 2004, according to the state patrol. |
