Family and friends gathered to remember Esther Chung, who died when floodwaters swept her car from Holbrook Road near All Nations Church.
SAN ANTONIO — Esther Chung, 77, is being remembered as a loving soul who held her Christian faith above all else.
Chung was swept to her death in flood waters on June 12 as she was attending an early morning prayer service at All Nations Church on Holbrook Road.
The church building is less than 200 yards from Salado Creek, which surged out of its banks in the pre-dawn darkness during a storm that dumped about six inches of rain upstream in a short time.
Neighbors said no barricades were in place at the time to keep drivers out of the flood-prone zone and Chung may have had no idea she was driving into danger.
Maria Perry, her neighbor of eight years, said Chung was well known in her retirement community for her loving ways and generosity of spirit.
Perry said Chung never failed to tell people of her deep faith.
“When I first met her I asked her ‘Are you a Christian?’ and she says ‘Oh yes! Christ is my life!’ And that is just so wonderful to know she had such a deep faith,” said Perry. She said her friend, who came to America from Korea, was always kind and helpful.
“When we had our get togethers in the community room, she would always be putting extra food on my plate and I would say ‘that’s enough, that’s enough!,’ but that’s the type of person that she was, very generous,” said Perry.
Perry said everyone in their tight-knit community remains in shock.
“When we heard that, we couldn’t believe it that she was gone. It just was so hard to take it in,” said Perry.
Perry said since Chung was on her way to pray, she is certain she is in heaven now.
“She will be greatly missed. She was a great person,” said Perry.
Meanwhile, outside the church while the service was still underway, work crews from both Public Works and the Solid Waste departments were on Holbrook Road addressing damage from the high water event.
A Public Works crew was busy removing debris from a concrete drainage channel south of the location while Solid Waste crews were busy with heavy machinery removing tons of debris left behind by the fast-moving water.
The city continues to evaluate the storm and work on a damage assessment.