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Celebrates life of Hubbard girl killed in auto accident April 4, 2003
HUBBARD
Bryan and Jenifer Studer celebrate their daughter Kyrsten’s life and keep her memory alive by sponsoring events in her name that help people in need.
“When you lose someone you love, you want to talk about them. The events give us a chance to be with her,” said Jenifer with a smile on her face and tears in her eyes.
Soon after Kyrsten was killed April 4, 2003, by a hit-and-run driver who had been drinking, her parents and a family friend, Renee Merrell, formed the Kyrsten Elizabeth Studer Foundation administered by the Community Foundation of Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio and through which events are funded.
One of the events, Kyrsten’s Kloset, begun three years ago, involves giving away donated prom dresses.
The first year, Kyrsten’s Kloset gave away more than 40 dresses, and last year, more than 70 girls received prom dresses free of charge.
This year, Kyrsten’s Kloset, the idea of Kyrsten’s sister, Sarah Studer of Hubbard, is overflowing with some 600 dresses, most worn only once and some with the store tags still attached, the Studers said.
The 2015 Kyrsten’s Kloset is open from noon to 4 p.m. March 28-29 at St. Patrick’s Parish Center, 315 N. Main St., Hubbard.
Girls who come will be able to shop, try on and choose a dress at no cost. The only requirement to receive a dress is that they must sign a Don’t Drink/Don’t Do Drugs & Drive Prom Pledge.
“I had no idea how much these dresses would mean to people who maybe can’t afford them. The girls look like a million bucks, and their parents are all smiles and often in tears. It gives us joy,” said Jenifer, a fourth-grade mathematics and science teacher at Howland Intermediate School.
“There have been several girls who just don’t want to spend money on a dress they will only wear once, and they like the idea of wearing a dress has so much meaning behind it,” she said.
Kyrsten was killed just 12 days shy of her 15th birthday when a car plowed into her and seven other girls, age 14 and 15, in front of Pine Lakes Golf Club as they walked along state Route 304 going from C’s Waffle House to the bowling alley about three-quarters of a mile away, said her father.
The girls were walking on the cinders and grass along the road with their backs to traffic when a car, driven by William Demidovich of Hubbard, swerved off the road and struck the group, killing Kyrsten and injuring several others.
The accident occurred shortly after Demidovich had left Hubbard Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 3767, where he had been drinking. The Ohio State Highway Patrol said Demidovich had a blood-alcohol level of 0.189. The legal limit is 0.08. He was convicted of aggravated vehicular homicide and other charges and spent six years in prison.
The Studer family, left to deal with their grief, moved from their hometown of Hubbard to Canfield after their daughter’s death and chose to do something positive to commemorate Kyrsten and help people in need. The result is the Kyrsten Elizabeth Studer Foundation.
Bryan and Jenifer (Scarvell) Studer grew up in Hubbard and graduated in 1980 and 1981, respectively, from Hubbard High School.
He earned a civil-engineering degree from Youngstown State University and owns and operates Nova Resources LLC, which primarily does commercial construction management.
She has a business degree with a major in accounting and a master’s degree in education, both from YSU.
The Studers have five children: Sarah of Hubbard, Kyrsten, Brandon of Chicago and Alec and Kristofer at home, both YSU students; and a grandson, Kaleb.
Giving away prom dresses is not the only Kyrsten Foundation project.
Previously, the foundation purchased a used school bus, which the Hubbard High School Class of 2006, family and friends decorated before it was sent, filled with medical and school supplies, to Mayan school children in Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula through the local Mission of Love.
“We decided we wanted to give the seniors with whom Kyrsten would have graduated the gift of giving to others,” Bryan said.
“It was fitting. She was always wanting to help people,” her father said.
The foundation also funds a project that provides a blanket or stuffed animal with tags that say “Kyrst” for children who come into the emergency department at St. Elizabeth Hospital Youngstown.
Merrell manages that project and has been instrumental in the success of other foundation endeavors, the Studers said.
The foundation also sponsors fundraising events, such as an auction and bake sale at the prom dress drive, and golf outings. Proceeds from these activities are used to fund the blanket and stuffed-animal project.
Dresses, jewelry and/or accessories still can be donated before the Kyrsten Kloset event. Bake sale and auction items can be dropped off from 9 to 11 a.m. at St. Patrick Church on the days of the events.
“When I see the proud look on a dad’s face when his daughter walks out of the dressing room, it makes me smile,” Bryan Studer said. “I think Kyrsten is smiling, too.”