Beautiful, loving, mother, teacher.
Those are words Kathleen Hope Patton used to describe her daughter, Lacey Finneyfrock, after she died Friday in a car crash near her Pennsylvania home.
"God was showing off when he made her," Patton said.
Finneyfrock drove nearly 30 miles from Caroll Valley, Pennsylvania, daily to teach kindergartners at Walkersville Elementary School in Frederick County, Maryland.
She died after another driver drifted across yellow lines into her lane and crashed into her near the Liberty Mountain resort just outside of Caroll Valley.
Finneyfrock had always wanted to be a teacher, and worked at Walkersville Elementary for 10 years. There, she was close to the other teachers.
"We’re friends, we’re not just co-workers," said Kristine Wisner, a teacher at the school. "We do a lot of things together outside of work, and we’ve shared a lot of laughs and a lot of tears together."
Local
Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia local news, events and information
Finneyfrock's colleagues said every family hoped their child would be assigned to her class.
Faculty and staff gathered at the elementary school to remember her.
"Right now we just want to take the time and mourn her loss and give our staff time to do that as well before we even think about next steps," said Assistant Principal Edward Hargreaves.
Finneyfrock’s family said that she was passionate about helping kids with special needs. They are considering starting a scholarship fund at the school to help children who struggle with learning.
Finneyfrock is survived by a husband and five daughters.
