Soup kitchen manager killed in car crash

MANATEE, Nov 29, 2008 (The Bradenton Herald - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- WMT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- When Mary A. DeLazzer didn't show up for work Friday morning at the Our Daily Bread soup kitchen in Bradenton, director Bob Eikill thought maybe she had decided to take a day off.

"But that wasn't like her," Eikill said. "We even sent someone to her house to see if she was OK, but she wasn't home."

Florida Highway Patrol said DeLazzer, the soup kitchen's manager for more than 20 years, was killed when a drunken driver slammed into her car on State Road 70 just after 6 a.m. She was 77.

"Her death is a huge loss," said Bob Eikill, the soup kitchen's director. "God works in such mysterious ways. I have always wanted Mary to have an assistant and just three months ago we hired Penny Goethe to work with Mary. She can jump in, but this is just a terrible loss."

Eikill learned of the accident early Friday afternoon, just as he was leaving the soup kitchen after it had closed for the day.

"I am still in shock," Eikill said.

FHP troopers said DeLazzer died after Julissa S. Martinez drove an Oldsmobile sport utility into the back of DeLazzer's station wagon at State Road 70 and 30th Street East, in front of a Wal-Mart Supercenter. DeLazzer was stopped at a traffic light in the westbound lanes.

Martinez, 20, has been arrested on charges of DUI manslaughter, careless driving, driving without a license causing a death, DUI with property damage and driving with no insurance, according to a FHP report. She remained in jail without bond Friday night.

FHP Sgt. William Pascoe said after impact, DeLazzer's Mercury station wagon caught fire. Workers on a garbage truck nearby put the flames out with fire extinguishers, but DeLazzer died at the scene, he said.

DeLazzer's son, Faust DeLazzer, of Bradenton, and his wife, Candice, were on their way to Tallahassee for the Florida-Florida State game this weekend. He turned around when he received a phone call from FHP.

He was in shock Friday afternoon, sitting in his kitchen as friends called to give their condolences.

"She's been helping the homeless as far as I can remember. She was used to cooking for three boys so she put her talents to work," he said. "She was all about tough love. No one messed with her. When she was in the room, you knew she was the one in charge."

DeLazzer had let her family cook most of the dishes this Thanksgiving, family members said. She had insisted on cooking her signature dish of Italian green beans.

Family members said she was constantly preparing turkeys and had worked 19 days straight at Our Daily Bread leading up to the holiday.

"We are thankful we were all able to be together for Thanksgiving as a family," said Candice DeLazzer, DeLazzer's daughter-in-law.

DeLazzer's residence was quiet Friday afternoon in Wind Mill Manor surrounded by her manicured potted plants.

Tears welled up in Donna VanScyoc's eyes when she learned the news. She was DeLazzer's next door neighbor for 13 years.

"She was a walking angel. She worked herself to the bone. She was always down at Our Daily Bread devoting herself to these people," she said. "She never did take much time for herself. She would say, 'I've got to do this.'"

Gary Chanco was one of many volunteers who had worked with DeLazzer over the years at Our Daily Bread, 1426 14th St. W.

"Mary was the spark plug that ran Our Daily Bread," Chanco said. "She was a loving and caring person."

With donations down, DeLazzer was challenged by shrinking supplies. "She has been feeding close to 300 people a day with less and less food," Chanco said. "I don't know how she managed to do it. She always said, 'God will provide' and He did. It was like the loaves and fishes. Mary could feed hundreds with a little bit of food."

But DeLazzer also ran a tight ship, said Jean Van Delft, another volunteer.

"When Mary spoke, you listened," Van Delft said. "When you talked to Mary you knew she was someone who knew what she was doing."

DeLazzer cared about every person who came through the soup line, Van Delft said.

"Mary took their problems to heart, and she wanted to see them do well," Van Delft said.

Adell Erozer, executive director of the Community Coalition on Homelessness was looking forward to March when Mary would set up Our Daily Bread soup kitchen in the new One Stop Center to serve the homeless on 17th Avenue West.

"This is just terrible," said Erozer. "Her death is a huge loss."

Deacon Phil Davis of Christ Episcopal Church helps direct the soup kitchen when Eikill is away.

"Poor Mary, she is Our Daily Bread," Davis said. "She works so hard. I suppose we will pull through, but it won't be easy."

"Mary was a wonderful person," said Major Robert Pfeiffer, development director of the Salvation Army. "I am sure God has a special place for her in heaven."

FHP Sgt. Pascoe said when troopers arrived they smelled an odor of alcohol on Martinez and arrested her. Investigators found no signs that Martinez braked before the collision, Pascoe said.

Martinez had minor injuries but not enough to prevent troopers from taking her to the Manatee County jail for sobriety tests immediately after the wreck. Pascoe said she had a blood alcohol level more than double the legal limit of .08.

"She told us she was on her way home from work," Pascoe said.

Family members found DeLazzer's death inexplicable.

"Any death in a accident like that is senseless," said Candice DeLazzer. "It's just a shame it happened. I think that's the biggest shock is that it was so unexpected. You read about accidents all the time but this hits home."

Pascoe declined to say where Martinez worked because the crash is still under investigation. Martinez's husband came to the scene and told troopers his wife usually came home from work around 6 a.m., and when she didn't arrive he went looking for her.

The wreckage from the crash had Karen Cardozo astounded as she viewed DeLazzer's mangled car.

"Someone must have been driving really fast. It is just unbelievable. It is terrible, just too bad," Cardozo said.

The crash snarled traffic on State Road 70 after troopers closed westbound lanes of the road from 33rd Street East to 30th Street East.

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