Media Credit: CTSY A public memorial service will be held Sunday for Lucy Lahr (right), who was killed by a hit-and-run driver. The memorial service will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the corner of High Street and E. Broadway. [Click to enlarge]

Media Credit: CTSY Lucy Lahr (above) was described by friends as having "boundless amounts of energy" and being "incredibly warm and welcoming". [Click to enlarge]

Memorial services will be held this Sunday for the woman who was killed at the intersection of East 13th Street and Hilyard Avenue last week, a woman whose reputation rippled through the state and is remembered as a "vibrant soul" by those who knew her.

The woman, 45-year-old Lucy I. Lahr, died the night of Oct. 18 after she and her partner, Susan Wehner, were struck by a hit-and-run driver in the crosswalk near Sacred Heart Medical Center. Wehner was hospitalized but has since been released.

Since the accident, police made one arrest: Robert T. Berryhill. He was arrested two days after the accident and charged on Monday with two felonies.

Meanwhile, those who loved Lahr are left grieving.

"She had boundless amounts of energy," said Laura Gerards of the EMU Craft Center and a longtime friend Lahr. "She was incredibly warm and welcoming."

Lahr worked for the Eugene-Springfield Solidarity Network, a group that brings together labor unions and advocates for the civil and economic rights of working people, according to ESSN's Web site.

Lahr also worked for the Department of Human Services for more than a decade and was a leader in the SEIU, an international labor union with subdivisions in Oregon and Eugene.

The union for the University's classified employees is a part of SEIU, and Lahr was introduced to many University employees at regular SEIU District meetings.

One of them was James Jacobson, an office specialist in the Early Intervention Department. He worked with her at SEIU meetings, and on Thursday he discussed the loss of Lahr with the Emerald.

"It's one of the biggest holes I could ever imagine in SEIU," he said. "She was just a pillar. She was just... it's going to be an infinite hole. It's just really hard."

Jacobson, who has known her for about five years, said Lahr lit up a room when she walked in.

"The thing that stands out, is that when she came to any individual person, and was in their presence, she was focused. She was there. She was with you. She was interested in you, and she wanted to know about you. And that's how she was. She was totally focused on the person she was with."

Another University employee who got to know Lahr through SEIU is Star Holmberg. On Sunday, Holmberg contributed a long post to a blog established to memorialize Lahr.

"I have heard her called both an angel and a saint. Take your pick," she wrote, "the gal was wonderful."

Lahr held several positions in the Department of Human Services, and several of her co-workers and clients posted on her memorial blog.

A client wrote that Lahr was her "inspiration."

"When I felt like the whole world was against me, she gave me hope, strength and the passion to go on and follow my dreams," the person wrote. "I am now at OSU pursuing a degree in social work."

Sunday's memorial service, which will be held from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the corner of High Street and E. Broadway, is open to the public.

"It should be quite the community event," Jacobson said. "There will be a lot of people there who love her and are really going to miss her... A lot of tears and a lot of testimony."

rknutson@dailyemerald.com

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