I attended elementary and junior high school with Amy and it is safe to say she was one of the kindest, most thoughtful people I have EVER met. She was just one of those people that everyone loved. I grieve for her family and her young husband but I take comfort in the fact that she lived her life to the fullest and made such a huge difference during such a short life.
Why do horrific things like this always seem to happen to the good people?
Pilot writer's daughter killed
Religion columnist and daughter were traveling on I-5 when the van's left rear tire burst and sent the vehicle off the road.
By Kelly Strodl
Amy Strutzenberg was the kind of person who made things happen.
At 21, she earned a master's degree from Stanford University, and the Corona del Mar High School graduate was moving back to the area to get her MBA from UCLA.
Those plans ended when she died in a car accident on Sunday. She was 25.
The daughter of Newport Beach residents John and Cindy Trane Christeson, a religion columnist for the Daily Pilot, Strutzenberg was a passenger in the car her mother was driving on a trip from Strutzenberg's home in the Bay Area when the left rear tire of their van burst and sent the vehicle rolling off the road.
Christeson, who has written "The Moral of the Story" column for the Pilot for about 10 years, was driving south on I-5 near Bakersfield when the accident happened, CHP authorities said Tuesday. She attempted to turn off the highway but instead lost control of the vehicle, Buttonwillow Highway Patrol spokesman Rick Jorgensen said. Strutzenberg was ejected from the van and died on impact, Jorgensen said.
It is unclear whether Strutzenberg was wearing a seatbelt, but she was seated in a reclining position that would have negated the restraint's protection, Jorgensen said.
Christeson was taken to Kern Medical Center in Bakersfield and treated for minor to moderate injuries.
"Her heart is broken," husband John said. "She's … grateful that she was with Amy when it happened. Our challenge now is to not be sad. Every minute we spent with her was just joy."
Strutzenberg and her husband, Tyson, had just sold their home in San Mateo and were in the midst of moving back to Southern California to pursue graduate degrees from UCLA.
Cindy Christeson flew up over the weekend to make the trip south and spend some time with her youngest daughter.
John Christeson spent the past two days calling Amy's family, friends and co-workers to break the news.
Monday, he spoke with David Poe, managing director at Edgar, Dunn & Co., where Strutzenberg worked for the last three years as a financial consultant.
After they heard the news, the firm's staff gathered to grieve and reminisce about the good times with someone who personally invested in all of their lives.
"She was the kind of person who was always going out of her way to do things for people," Poe said.
"Whenever anybody needed help, they knew she would always make time for them, and she was in such high demand because she was always thinking beyond her responsibilities to others," he added.
"When she knew people needed an uplift, she would bring in her bread. We couldn't wait for the day Amy would bring in the banana bread."
Poe saw Strutzenberg for the last time Sunday, when he took her to lunch for a chat about the future in the hopes he could keep her involved with the firm.
"Amy was probably the brightest, most capable person we've ever hired," Poe said.
"I hated to see her go to graduate school but knew she was destined to go … improve herself and the lives of others," he added.
Last year, she became the youngest senior consultant at the global financial firm in San Francisco since the firm opened in 1978.
Before re-embarking on their educations, Strutzenberg and her husband planned a trip to Vancouver, B.C., in July, then planned to fly to Peru and spend the summer building houses for the needy.
"She had an idea and went and made it happen," Christeson said. "She was just that kind of person."
The family is in the process of planning memorial services.
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