Remembering Lives Cut Short

With tears and choked voices, about 150 people gathered Saturday at Pacific View Memorial Park in Newport Beach to dedicate the Victims of Drunk Drivers Memorial.

That the memorial was built at all is a testament to the hard work of the family of Lori Ann McInroy-Curler, who was killed Dec. 20, 1995, when a drunk driver ran a red light and crashed into her car. She was 34. The family hopes the wall will become a symbol similar to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, where relatives of those killed gather to cope with their loss.

“Maybe we can talk to people in the same circumstances and help them,” said John Curler, Lori’s husband. “I don’t think people realize the pain we go through every day.”

The name of Lori McInroy-Curler is one of 30 etched into the memorial, along with others like Leslie Ann Bittner and Mary Wild and her granddaughter Evelyn Mary Sovan. The wall has room for 110 more. Lori’s father, Ronald McInroy, said that once the memorial is filled, two more wings will be added, and then another wall.

It costs $495 to have a name added to the memorial and $4,000 for a granite bench inscribed with the name of a loved one.

When Saturday’s ceremony was over, Lori’s son, 10-year-old Brandon Curler, took the white carnation from his shirt and three rocks he had brought from home and placed them on top of the plaque honoring his mother.

“My mom really liked colored rocks,” he said.