Crosses Mark Tragic End of Stroll : Oregon: Community tries to cope with deaths of three children and a mother run down along a highway by an allegedly drunk driver.

The weather was sunny and warm, a glorious spring Sunday perfect for a walk into town.

Ramona Golding and her neighbor, Linda Sue Meyer, took their three young children by the hand on March 27 and headed toward Oregon Highway 224, where one by one they carefully made their way down a dry ditch several feet off the roadway.

A short distance up the highway, William Michael Patton was at the wheel of a car, heading down from the mountains after a night of partying with friends.

Patton, who had no driver’s license, allegedly had been drinking.

The car veered off the roadway, went into the ditch and mowed down the line of pedestrians.

All but Meyer died instantly. The children--ages 3, 5 and 6--were hit so hard the impact knocked them out of their shoes.

The stunned residents of this timber and tourist town of 2,000 about 25 miles southeast of Portland are trying to cope with the tragedy.

They held a candlelight vigil, staged a student march against drunk driving and held a carwash and hot dog sale to help pay for the funerals. Memorial funds were established at a local bank.

Someone erected three small white crosses and one large one at the spot where the four died. Later, an even larger cross was added. Flowers lined one side of the ditch.

The rain that came in the days after the crash didn’t wash away the police chalk that showed the path of the car, where the shoes were found, where the bodies landed.

“It was kind of a slaughter,” said Sandi Peloquin, one of the organizers of the memorial events. “It was really senseless, having someone drunk that early in the day and not have any skid marks.”

Mark Pulcinello had married and divorced Golding, but had lived with her again for several years. They planned to remarry in June.

Pulcinello was working on his truck and had waved to his family as they began their 1 1/2-mile walk to town to return some videos and do some shopping.

He heard the crash.

“I heard the sirens and I’m thinking, ‘There’s an accident and the girls are probably all down around there watching it,’ ” Pulcinello said. “So I jumped on my 10-speed and rolled down there. As I went around the corner, there’s my wife in the middle of the road and my daughter and the neighbor’s two boys down in the ditch.”

Patton had been in trouble before, but nothing like this. His license was suspended two years ago because he had no insurance. He was on probation for stealing a car in 1992.

Authorities won’t say what Patton’s blood-alcohol level was at the time of the crash, but witnesses said he appeared quite drunk.

He was indicted for driving under the influence of intoxicants, as well as four counts of manslaughter and two counts of assault. Patton pleaded innocent and remains in jail in lieu of $400,000 bond.

The boys’ mother couldn’t go to their funeral March 31. She remained hospitalized with a facial fracture, head injury, broken leg and broken ankle.

Pulcinello, whose former wife and daughter were buried the following day, exchanged a long hug with the boys’ father outside the church.

He said he doesn’t want revenge, confident Patton will be brought to justice.

Under Oregon sentencing guidelines, Patton could face 70 months in prison for each manslaughter count.