Orange County car club honors member who was killed in crash on PCH in Huntington Beach
A week after a 53-year-old woman was killed in a crash with an alleged DUI driver on the Pacific Coast Highway in Huntington Beach, the other members of her beloved car group gathered to honor her memory.
Heather Lewis, known fondly to others as Candy Corn, was in her silver Kia Soul when she was allegedly rear-ended by the 23-year-old Long Beach man behind the wheel of a BMW 328i, Huntington Beach police said at the time of the crash.
The collision caused Lewis' car to veer off the road and into the marsh off the side of the road. She was pronounced dead after Orange County Fire Authority firefighters extracted her from the vehicle and rushed her to a nearby hospital.
Members of the Beach City Classics gathered on Wednesday to remember Candy Corn in the Huntington Beach parking garage, where they last saw her.
"She's gone way too soon," said Phil Ventura. "She had a lot of life left to give. It's bitter. Not even bittersweet, just bitter all around."
They say that Lewis was always the volunteer who offered to keep an eye on the cars, most of which were valuable either monetarily or in personal value. Bob Patlion, also known as Pinto Bob because of his Ford Pinto, said he was often one of the last to leave the meetups.
"I'd come up here, and all the cars are gone, except mine. I'd say, 'If you need to go home, you can go home,'" Patlion said of Lewis. "She wouldn't. She'd go, "No, no. I love your Pintos, I want to make sure that nothing happens to them.' That's just the type of person she was."
Zenia Avelenda and Lavinia Rosen were among the first to call Lewis by her nickname, Candy Corn, due to her orange and yellow painted nails.
"We lost a sister. We lost somebody that was so unimaginably loving and caring, and she just gave the best hugs," Rosen said.
It was those hugs that made her so beloved amongst the other club members.
"If somebody walked away with no hug ... she wants that hug," said Willy Kiryakos. "I loved that. I did give her her last hug, last Wednesday. I wish it wasn't the last one."
After the meeting, they rode to the spot along PCH where Lewis died, leaving flowers and her picture behind.
