Mom: 19-year-old killed in Elyria crash was caring, empathetic

Zoe Lemire, the 19-year-old passenger who was killed in a single-vehicle crash in Elyria on Monday evening, was compassionate and had tremendous empathy for other people's struggles, her mother, Allison Pope, said Thursday. "She always wanted to be there for people," Pope said, recalling how Lemire gave so much positive energy to struggling people that it sometimes came at the expense of her own joy. Her mother said she had been coming "out of her shell" recently, partly because she started working as a cashier at the BP gas station on Cleveland Street. "She loved to work. She'd go there and do (extra work) and always tell me about it," Pope said. "And all of her customers loved her." Another life change that had Lemire coming out of her shell, Pope said, was meeting her boyfriend, Ethan Burrer. They were constantly laughing, didn't seem to fight and had a blissful relationship like "we all wish for," she said. Lemire had saved up money to buy a white Pontiac Sunfire. Police say Burrer was behind the wheel of that car when he lost control while trying to pass another vehicle near the Waters Edge apartments on East Avenue. After the crash, both he and Lemire were transported by LifeFlight to MetroHealth Medical Center in Cleveland, where she died and he was reported by police to be in critical condition. Pope said Burrer was expected to be released from the hospital Thursday and he was extremely apologetic. Despite the circumstances, Pope said she recognized the love between her daughter and Burrer and has no room to hate the young man. "He never hurt her and he feels awful," she said. "Zoe would have forgave him and I forgive him. I'm not letting anybody be mean to him." But that doesn't make the loss of her daughter any easier to bear. Pope said someone had to take away her phone because she kept being exposed to photos and videos of the crash every time she turned it on. In addition to Pope and Burrer, Lemire is survived by one older and one younger sister, father David Harvey Lemire of LaGrange and four grandparents. Lemire's funeral is being planned at Dicken Funeral Home, 323 Middle Ave., with the assistance of GoFundMe contributions that have been made in her honor. Friends will be received Monday from 11 a.m. until the time of a 1 p.m. service at the funeral home, according to an obituary. Contact Dylan Reynolds at (440) 329-7123 or dreynolds@chroniclet.com. Follow him on Twitter @drey1357.