Mother of two from Long Beach killed in car crash

Under a gray sky, loved ones gathered at Wellwood Cemetery in Pinelawn Monday to say goodbye to Kate Meredith Rose Eichin, 37, a mother of two killed when she was struck by a car outside her co-op in Long Beach on Friday afternoon.

Eichin was killed in the crash on Shore Road at about 4 p.m. The accident site was between Lincoln and Franklin boulevards, Long Beach City Manager Charles T. Theofan said.

"She was exiting her car, which was parked, and she was struck by a car that was traveling down the street and veered into the side of the road and struck her," said Lt. James McCormack, commanding officer, traffic division in Long Beach.

Theofan said Eichin usually parked in an indoor garage, but work being done in the building kept her from parking there Friday.

Relatives said it was the first time Eichin had parked on the street outside the building.

The driver, also of Shore Road, was not charged in the accident and Theofan said police suspected no criminality.

Relatives said Eichin and her husband, Eric, 37, had two children: a boy named Shea, 2, and a 5-week-old daughter, Charlotte. Eric Eichin was at work as a New York City firefighter at the time of the accident, relatives said.

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"She was just so creative," said Eichin's mother, Karen L. Rose. "She did hair. Everybody loved her. She never, ever told a lie and wouldn't take any lies from anybody because she was extremely ethical."

Family friend Dale Grossman agreed.

"It's just sad and horrific," he said. "She was a wonderful, wonderful human being . . . She would forgive the woman [driver], I know that."

Eichin's father, Daniel Rose, 72, said his daughter overcame a learning disability diagnosed in the third grade and received an associate degree from Nassau Community College.

He described her as a "multitasker" and said she worked six days a week as a private stylist while taking care of her children. "There wasn't a job she took on that she didn't do wonderfully," her father said.

Judi Eichin, 69, said her son Eric is reeling from the loss, as is her family. "My son is broken," she said.

She said her other son, Randy, who also works for the FDNY, lives a block from the crash scene and heard what sounded like a gunshot - and came down to find his sister-in-law had been struck and killed. Eric and Kate Eichin were to celebrate their fourth wedding anniversary next Sunday.

Her father said the young couple had been looking to buy a house and had just found one they wanted to purchase.

"She would have been so happy there," he said.

Donations may be made in Eichin's honor to:

Hagedorn Cleft Palate and Craniofacial Center, North Shore LIJ Hospital, 225 Community Drive South Entrance, Great Neck, NY 10021; or the FDNY Burn Center, 21 Asch Loop, Bronx, NY 10475.