There are so many unanswered questions that perhaps people in Chesterfield, a western suburb of St. Louis, may never know exactly what happened last month when a fatal crash took the life of a beloved wife, mother, teacher and coach.

All we do know is what police have reported; that Patrick McCormick, a 53-year old director of facilities at St. Louis University Hospital, drove drunk that night. How does someone in a seemingly responsible position, at a hospital no less, become a reckless lethal weapon? As is often the case, the drunk driver survived the crash but others were not as fortunate.

Police said he was driving his 2002 Chevrolet Tahoe when he crossed the center line of Wildhorse Creek Road near Riverdale Avenue and collided head-on with a 1992 Infiniti being driven by Janet Esrock. She was killed. Her 16-year-old son, Jonathan, was seriously injured but survived.

According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Mrs. Esrock, 50, is survived by her husband, Chuck and three children -- Jonathan, Becky and Joe. But she had an extended family too that included the Whitfield School where she taught math and coached field hockey and the kids thought she was the greatest. Her dedication as a coach was extraordinary and she was honored for it just a week before the crash that took her life.

Reporter Joel Currier wrote that McCormick failed a field sobriety test and police said his blood-alcohol content was 0.14 (nearly twice the legal limit) about two hours after the crash. A second test taken an hour later showed a blood-alcohol reading at 0.12.

Mr. McCormick was held briefly in the St. Louis County Jail in Clayton, Mo. (the county seat) but is now free on bail, awaiting a trial date. Perhaps he will spend time thinking about the choices he made and come to some realization of the profound punishment he has inflicted on his victim and her husband, their three children, and their community and friends.

For them the pain did not end on August 26; it just began. Janet Esrock is not here to contemplate it. I did not know her or anyone else in Chesterfield; I only know she had to have been a very special person. She has left this earth prematurely and her family must now endure.

Please don’t let this tragedy be in vain. Learn from it. Don’t drink and drive and don’t tolerate those who do.

God bless Mrs. Esrock and her family.