Valerie Hrooshkin was a stylish and hard-working animal lover with Lyme

http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/index.ssf?/base/news-0/1129885918157830.xml&coll=3

'A TERRIBLE WAY TO GO'
Grieving neighbors shocked by beloved woman's death
Friday, October 21, 2005
By JASON DEL REY
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
To her neighbors, 56-year-old Valerie Hrooshkin was a stylish and
hard-working animal lover who was forced to keep odd hours working the
overnight shift at a Jersey City Heights senior facility.

Before leaving for work in the early evening or after returning home in
the morning, Hrooshkin, a mother of one, could often be seen putting
out food on the street for stray cats or calling home one of her two
felines, Hercules, from her first-floor window, neighbors said
yesterday.

"They were her babies," recalled 34-year-old Lynn Finn, who recently
moved out of the building that Hrooshkin called home for many years and
whose family members still live there.

But on Tuesday morning, Hrooshkin's normal trip home from work turned
tragic: She was killed after being struck by a car and pinned between
it and another car on Bleecker Street near Summit Avenue.

"It's a terrible way to go, being crushed between two cars," said,
Joseph Meyers, 31, Finn's brother, who lives in Hrooshkin's building.
"She was such a pretty woman."

Finn said: "I hope she went quick. She was always laughing and smiling
and had her own style. She was very hip."

Jersey City Police Sgt. Edgar Martinez said Hrooshkin did indeed die
"within minutes" of being pinned between the Toyota Camry driven by Vic
Ramdaney, 57, of Bedford, Pa., and a minivan parked in a driveway.

Martinez said Ramdaney was issued a summons for careless driving but
had not been charged with a crime. Ramdaney was attempting to move his
car from a parked position and did not realize it was in reverse,
Martinez said.

So when he stepped on the gas, his car jumped the curb and struck
Hrooshkin, who was walking on the sidewalk, police said.

"He didn't intentionally do it," Martinez said. "It was just an
accident."

Finn's and Meyers' mother, 58-year-old Joan Meyers, who also lives in
the building, said she was overcome when she learned of the news
Wednesday when she ran into Hrooshkin's boyfriend in the hallway.

"When he told me, I had to run upstairs," she said yesterday, her voice
still filled with disbelief. "I don't understand how this could
happen."

Hrooshkin had Lyme's Disease and "had trouble walking," Finn said, but
since she didn't drive, she would either take a bus to work or get a
ride with a co-worker, neighbors said.

Since she lived on her own and did not have any grandchildren,
Hrooshkin was also known to befriend the children in the building, they
said.

"She'd always invite my children in for candy or to see the cats," Finn
said. "My daughter is real upset."

Journal staff writer Carly Baldwin contributed to this report.

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