2008 Woodie Awards
Death of friend impacts student's outlook on life
By Jill Ann Sarver-Monk
Rocket Assistant Life/Entertainm
Issue date: 12/9/05 Section: Life
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She lives at New South Rock Apartments, and is 21 years old, is 5'2 ½" tall, with blonde hair, and green eyes.
She is an ambitious English secondary education major, communication minor, in addition to a dance minor. She is excited about her major; she seems to really have a passion for teaching. In fact, her desire to teach is so strong that when an idea pops into her head for a lesson plan, she writes it down in a book for later use, and she is constantly talking about how she simply cannot wait to begin student teaching.
Brunner works at BCBG Maxazria at Grove City Outlets, where she is often the top salesperson of the month. When she returns to her hometown of Mt. Lebanon, she works at Willi's Ski Shop, and rides a Burton Feel Good snowboard on the slopes. The places where Brunner is employed reflect her hobbies and interests. She loves snowboarding and has a fabulous flare for fashion.
Brunner found a best friend in fellow SRU student Lindsey Pedacchio their freshman year at SRU. They quickly became friends and formed their title as the "coolest dorks ever." Brunner seemed to meet her match, because Pedacchio was just as big of a nerd Monday thru Friday as Brunner was, if not more.
They became roommates by their sophomore year. Brunner and Pedacchio were known as the "mom's" of the apartment because they were always the clean-up crew after parties and were always doing their homework. They were inseparable. The summer after their sophomore year they still talked on the phone at least every other day to keep in touch, since Pedacchio was home in New York and Brunner was at home in Pennsylvania for the summer.
Pedacchio was an elementary education major because of the great reputation of SRU's education program. She was originally from Randolph, a small town in New York, where she indulged her love of the outdoors as a park ranger at Allegheny State Park. Pedacchio passed away that summer on Aug. 22, 2004, Pedacchio fell about 150 feet from a cliff while exploring Zoar Valley in the park. There is now a memorial sign where she fell that recently prevented another young girl from hanging out in the dangerous area.
