St. Francis community mourns death of graduate

Everything was going as planned for Bethani Jane Werner.

The 20-year-old Winfield native was enjoying her junior year at St. Ambrose University in Iowa and focusing on getting a degree in communications and strategic marketing.

“She was just getting to an age where she was really starting to think about what she was going to do,” said Kathy Pelkey, Werner's mother. Pelkey said her daughter talked about pursuing a career in public relations or event planning.

But Werner's life was cut short earlier this week when she was killed while crossing a four-lane street in front of the St. Ambrose campus in Davenport.

On Thursday, hundreds of people attended a wake for Werner at Williams-Kampp Funeral Home in Wheaton. A funeral Mass is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday at St. John the Baptist Church, 233 Church St., Winfield.

“This little light that's been in all of our lives for 20 years is now gone,” Kathy Pelkey said, “and we have to live with her memory.”

Family members are remembering Werner as an outgoing, funny young woman who enjoyed making friends.

“You always knew when she was in the room,” said Chris Pelkey, Werner's stepfather. “She would come in and make her presence felt. She had a great personality.”

Werner died around 2:30 a.m. Sunday about a block away from her apartment. She was walking with a friend toward the St. Ambrose campus when she crossed West Locust Street and was struck by a car driven by a 36-year-old Davenport man.

“The girl that she was with sort of jogged across the street thinking that Bethani was right alongside of her,” Davenport police Capt. David Struckman said. “She heard the thud and realized Bethani had been hit by a car.”

Werner was pronounced dead at the hospital.

At the time of the accident, the pavement was wet. Police said the ongoing investigation has found both Werner and the driver consumed alcohol “during different periods throughout the night.”

“We do not know the level or the amount they consumed,” Struckman said. Authorities are awaiting toxicology results from the state crime lab.

The driver hasn't been charged, police said.

“It was an accident in every way,” Kathy Pelkey said. “I hold no fault against anybody. It was two o'clock in the morning and it's a terrible tragedy that could happen to anybody.”

Meanwhile, a St. Ambrose spokeswoman said the nearly 1,500-student campus is “truly in mourning” this week.

“St. Ambrose is a pretty tight-knit community,” said Jane Kettering, director of media relations. “So it really affects folks when one of our own has died.”

Werner also touched the lives of many at St. Francis High School. She graduated from the Wheaton school in 2008.

Kate Kowalski, one of Werner's former teachers at St. Francis, said she was a great student who got along with everyone.

“She was one of the kids that you can look to and put yourself in a good mood,” Kowalski said. “Because she had a smile on her face most of the time.”

Family members said they are thankful for the support they have received from friends in the St. Francis and St. John the Baptist Church communities. “They are holding us up and bringing us through this,” Kathy Pelkey said.