Friends called Kenton E. Iwaniec "The Shepherd."
"They called him that because he always, always was the one who offered to be the designated driver if any of them decided to drink," said his mother, Debra Iwaniec of Cook.
Then a drunken driver killed Iwaniec, 24.
Court papers describe the crash last year that claimed the life of the 2002 graduate of Ligonier Valley High School:
On March 27, Kristina M. Quercetti, 40, was speeding on Route 41 in Chester County with an open bottle of Grey Goose vodka resting in her purse and her 4-year-old son sitting in a car seat.
Iwaniec was driving the other way, heading north to Lancaster after a shift as a state police trooper at the Avondale barracks. Truckers on CBs chattered about Quercetti, barreling along in the dark, her headlights off.
Quercetti fiddled with a DVD player. Her Chevy Tahoe crossed the double yellow line. It clipped a mirror on a pickup truck. It veered. Then it slammed into Iwaniec's Hyundai sedan.
Sparks flew. Quercetti never put on her brakes. She was going 73 mph.
Paramedics took a blood sample that would detect the pain medication and alcohol coursing through Quercetti. Rescue workers rushed Iwaniec to Christiana Hospital.
"The Shepherd" died in surgery on March 28.
Even as they grieve, his extended family continues his crusade against drunken drivers. They tell students, soldiers, anyone, about the deadliness of drinking and driving.
"He always was looking out for others, and that's what we're trying to do," said his sister, Acacia Iwaniec Houck, 28, of Scottdale.
On the mission are Iwaniec's fiancee, Julie Kromer, 23, of Greensburg; Iwaniec's parents, Kenneth, 55, and Debra, 54; and Iwaniec's three sisters -- Acacia and her husband, Michael Houck, 30; Sashonna Zacour, 23, and her husband Theron Zacour, 26; and Ashley Iwaniec, 22.
"Our goal each time is to reach at least one person in hopes of preventing another tragedy like the one we experienced," Ken Iwaniec said.
Acacia Iwaniec Houck first spoke publicly of her brother's life and death to Air Force recruits last spring at Monroeville Mall.
"Acacia told her story very powerfully," said Sgt. Amber Bullard. "I think our recruits were impacted by hearing about what drinking and driving can do to someone young like them."
The family travels as far as Allentown and England to deliver their presentation, weaving in photos of Kenton Iwaniec at his high school graduation and as a state trooper, a seven-minute video of his life and statistics on drunken-driving-related traffic fatalities.
"Roughly 13,000 people die each year in alcohol-related crashes," Acacia Iwaniec Houck said. "These presentations are not easy, but it's part of our healing process."
On March 28, the anniversary of Kenton Iwaniec's death, his family will speak at Operation Nighthawk, a state police-sponsored program at St. Vincent College in Unity for state and municipal police who enforce drunken-driving laws.
"When the Iwaniec family tells the story of their tragic loss and our loss as a department, it goes a long way toward helping us better prepare to take to the roads and identify and apprehend impaired drivers to avoid such tragedies in the future," said Trooper David Andrascik.
Sashonna and Theron Zacour took the presentation to Royal Air Force Mildenhall, north of London, where they both serve as second lieutenants in the Air Force. They help with a base program that gives rides home to airmen too intoxicated to drive.
The family pursues legislative changes to get tougher punishments against drunken drivers, especially those who kill or injure others. Chester County Judge Ronald Nagle sentenced Quercetti to 8 1/2 to 17 years imprisonment for killing the trooper and endangering her son.
"It's such a preventable crime. We're trying to help make people see that," Debra Iwaniec said with tears in her eyes.
More information on the mission can be found at the Web site www.trooperiwaniec.org.
