Woman Killed Crossing Intersection

A 48-year-old Santa Paula woman was struck and killed by an alleged drunk driver Saturday as she was crossing an intersection with her fiance, authorities said.

Susan Ruth Gallimore was pronounced dead at Santa Paula Memorial Hospital shortly after she was hit about 1:30 a.m. in the 700 block of Harvard Boulevard, Santa Paula Police Sgt. Ismael Cordero said.

The driver of the 1998 Chevrolet pickup that struck Gallimore, 29-year-old Veronica Esquivel Parra, was arrested after her vehicle slammed into a light pole about a block away, Cordero said.

Parra, who lives in Mexico and was visiting family in Santa Paula, remained in the county’s main jail in Ventura on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and drunk driving. Her bail was set at $100,000.

Before the crash, Gallimore and her longtime fiance, Doug Drost, had been singing karaoke with a group of friends at the Pastime Bar at 704 E. Harvard Blvd., said Gallimore’s daughter, Missy Glynn, 26.

“The last song they sang that night was with a big group of people and they did ‘Amazing Grace,’ ” said Glynn, who lives in San Luis Obispo.

Gallimore and Drost were crossing Harvard Boulevard at 7th Street to reach Drost’s truck when Gallimore was struck. Drost had been walking ahead of her and was not injured, Glynn said.

Harvard Boulevard is a main east-west thoroughfare in south Santa Paula. Witnesses estimated Parra was driving more than 50 mph on a stretch of the boulevard that is posted at 30 mph.

Several people who knew Gallimore gathered at the Pastime Bar on Saturday afternoon, but most were too distraught to talk about the incident.

Glynn said her mother had worked the last couple of years as an insurance biller, most recently at a doctor’s office in Thousand Oaks.

Before switching to office work, Gallimore was a behavior specialist who worked with juvenile delinquents and mentally impaired children at group homes in Ventura and Ojai.

“She was great with kids and had a big heart and a lot of patience. She was like the mother some of them never had,” Glynn said.

Gallimore had an honorary position in the Santa Paula Moose Lodge. She raised and rode horses.

In addition to Glynn, Gallimore is survived by another daughter, Glyna Glynn of Denver; a son, Jay Glynn of Santa Paula; and her mother, Dee Hartsough of Santa Paula.

Funeral arrangements were still being planned Saturday.