"You Have To Keep Going": Julia's Story

VERMILION — Paige and Julia Williams were more than sisters. They were close friends. With their dad, Dave Williams -- with whom the girls lived since elementary school -they were an inseparable trio, Julia said. Their little family grew last year when Julia, now 23, became a mom to Cecilia, whom they call Cece. And then in one terrible month, they were gone. On March 6, Paige and a friend, Lucy Hopkins, drowned in the freezing waters of Lake Erie after crashing into a utility pole and then slid into the water at Beaver Creek Marina in Lorain. Paige's funeral had barely passed, the grieving was still fresh before Julia would face it anew. On March 31, Dave was pinned beneath a car at L & M Towing and Repair in Brownhelm Township. Julia, who'd worked alongside her dad for 10 years before stepping away after losing Paige, wasn't there when it happened. She raced to the shop, getting there just as he was taken out on a gurney. He was flown to Cleveland for emergency surgery but died from his injuries. He was 43. In 25 days, she had lost two of the pillars of her life. A week later she was in a hospital again, this time for Cece. Born with hip dysplasia and clubfoot, her baby faced surgery to cut her Achilles tendon and open her hips. "When Paige died, my dad said we have to stay strong for Cece," she said. "I keep going because I have a 9-month-old in a body cast from the middle of her belly to her toes. I have to keep going." "Paige wanted to grow up," her sister said. She was just 17, spending the night with her friend when they set out in the early morning hours to pick up Paige's boyfriend. When her boyfriend lost her phone's location near Vermilion, he assumed she'd fallen asleep and found another ride home, but he had gotten worried when he couldn't reach her the next morning. At 7 a.m. Paige's boyfriend called Dave to tell him he couldn't get in touch with her. Dave drove to Julia's house, thinking Paige had gone there. Then the boyfriend called again. The news was showing a car being pulled out of the water at the marina. Dave drove there, with Julia right behind them. Police told them they couldn't be there, but they both insisted they had to be. It was Julia's car. They told police they knew who they would find inside. There was a third passenger in the car with the girls that morning. An 18-year-old man with injuries from a crash went to a nearby house at 4:17 a.m., reporting he had gotten out through a back window of the car, but that two girls were still inside. The crash remains under investigation, but Julia said she believes the heavy rain and fog that night and the curve at the road led to the tragedy. Lorain police did not respond for comment. "She wasn't a very experienced driver," Julia said. "She was driving my car because we'd just had that big snowstorm a couple weeks prior and someone slid into her car and insurance totaled it out. We think with the fog and the rain she didn't see the curve and went straight." In the aftermath, she and her dad would sometimes fall asleep on the phone together. Coverage of the crash was everywhere — on the news, social media. They couldn't escape it. To keep themselves from seeing it they would call each other as a lifeline to keep their phones quieted from the chatter of the outside world. The next day, they'd begin again. Her dad had always been very good at that. "My dad taught me how to survive," she said. "We were going out to eat. We were going out to car shows. We were surviving. He said grief is going to be hard, but we have to survive and make it for Cece." Dave, a Cleveland native, had brought himself out of homelessness at one point and built a career and a life for his family out of hard work and helping others. He loved his girls and helping others, she said. "People called him 'Super Dave' in Vermilion. Years ago he was working at another shop and he saw a tow truck and followed it to the shop and begged for a job and ended up working here for L & M and created our life out here," she said. L & M is refurbishing an old tow truck, and they'll put some of his ashes in the paint. "No matter who it was, what time of day it was, he would come and help you. He was a tow truck driver, he worked on people's cars. There were tons of big companies he worked for, he would just be there. Anybody would be on the side of the road, on his own time — he would just be there, just help them out. If kids were ever around, they would be fascinated with the lights or the tow truck, he would teach them all about it, help would let them help him." Dave was a team player, the kind of man who could give good advice and just as importantly take it. "His advice wasn't the only good advice. He always said if you weren't something learning every day then you were being ignorant," his daughter remembers. A few weeks ago a memorial car run in Dave's honor was organized around town, a fitting memorial for a man who loved hot rods and owned quite a few vintage '80s car classic cars. The procession of "normal cars, classic cars, tow trucks and more" that showed up had to be rerouted it got so long. "He was a great guy. And every time I saw someone we haven't seen in a long time I wanted to call him and say guess who's here?" Dave would have loved the party planned for Sunday, too. North Coast Idle & Grind is hosting a car show from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Liberty Ford, 4395 Liberty Ave., Vermilion, to benefit the Williams family. Proceeds from the 50/50s, raffles and doughnut sales will assist with the expenses left behind. "My dad would have loved this. Anybody that knew my dad would know he spent 95 percent of his time in work clothes and he loved a chance to get dressed up and see people," Julia said. Sunday also would have been Paige's graduation day from Vermilion High School. On Friday, Julia and her mother, April Guy-Sarr, attended the graduation ceremony at EHOVE Career Center, where Paige studied cosmetology. "Her dream was to do famous people's makeup," Julia said. She'd excelled at her work, winning multiple competitions. After the funeral, her teacher gave Julia her test scores that earned her a coveted slot to go to a competition in Columbus. Paige had scored a 96, but she died before she could go. Julia framed it. Two scholarships of $550 each were given out in Paige's name to her classmates during the end-of-the-year ceremony a few weeks back, Julia said. One went to Paige's co-worker at Salvatore's Restaurant in Vermilion. At the EHOVE ceremony, her classmates walked out with a red flower — Paige's favorite color — and placed them in a vase next to a photo of Paige. They decorated her cap, laid on her empty chair. Her name was read aloud to a moment of silence. Vermilion's commencement will be the same, Julia said. "She was fearless for others, she would advocate for people who were being picked on. She didn't care if what she said made people mad if she was helping someone. She helped take care of my dad after I moved out, always doing stuff around the house. She looked out for kids at school," Julia said. "She was sassy, and she was funny and she was caring. "She just wanted to grow up." Contact Rini Jeffers at rinijeffers@gmail.com.