Victim of fatal crash had overcome addiction

Her story was too common, the ending tragic. But there were four years when things had turned around. Heather Shrum overcame methamphetamine and alcoholism. She had been sober since 2004 and regained custody of her children, and she was taking college courses to become a psychologist. She had a professional job lined up. She was on track for a better life.

Her story ended Sunday afternoon when the 33-year-old Spokane Valley resident lost control of her car and it rolled several times in the roadway and down an embankment.

Also killed in that Oregon crash was Shrum’s 12-year-old daughter, Lacy Fry, an honor student at North Pines Middle School. Lacy, a sixth-grader, played football and was determined to break down stereotypes, those who knew her said.

Shrum’s son, 10-year-old Bailey Fry, survived the crash. He attends McDonald Elementary School, also in Spokane Valley.

The family was returning from Oregon after a visit with Shrum’s 14-year-old son, Rodney Fry, who was enrolled in a drug rehabilitation facility, said Shrum’s brother, William Miller.

“He was in treatment, because she was not going to let him do what she did,” Miller said.

On Thursday, Shrum would have been reading an autobiographical essay in her English class at Spokane Community College.

The completed essay, titled “Choices,” has a happy ending, but it starts with misfortune. It talks about her parents’ divorce, about abuse, and about Shrum’s departure from home at 12 to live on the streets.

“I used drugs for many reasons such as, not worrying about eating, staying warm in the winter and most importantly when I was high I never had to face the abandonment, fear, loss and I was able to escape from myself,” Shrum wrote.

She had Rodney at 16, Lacy at 18 and Bailey at 20. Her children were removed from her custody several times, and her life spiraled downward.

It all started to change in 2004, when she was sentenced to a year in jail.

“She made decisions to make it right with her family,” Miller said. “Over the last four years she lived her life trying to make up for the past.”

Her transformation seemed miraculous, said Shrum’s mother, Ella Strong.

Her counselor, Steven Queener, helped guide Shrum’s progress.

“She told me, ‘I was sitting in jail and I realized that this time, if I didn’t change, I would never see my children again,’ ” Queener said. “I’ve never seen a parent so determined to prove to her family, to herself and to her children that she was going to change.”

She lived with friends and got her high school equivalency diploma, then enrolled at Spokane Community College to study psychology.

“And as tough as it was to jump through all the hoops and red tape, she tolerated it,” said Bob Berg, who coached Shrum’s children in the Pop Warner Football League. “She would never give herself the credit for succeeding.

“And Lacy was just like her mom. No one was going to tell her what to do.”

Queener promised Shrum that when she was done with school, she could work for him at Behavior Intervention Programs.

“She had insights I could never offer,” Queener said.

Rodney Fry said he’ll never forget camping last summer with his mother, brother and sister, sharing a tent and laughing. And he’ll remember her hard times, too.

“She used to tell us stories about her past, about bad decisions she’d made, and that she didn’t want us to make the same bad decisions.”