Teacher’s funeral is Thursday

Friends and family will gather Thursday to remember a Costa Mesa teacher who was hit while riding her bicycle on a Newport Beach sidewalk Aug. 23. She died of her injuries the next day.

Candace Tift’s funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Thursday at Sts. Simon and Jude Catholic Church, 20444 Magnolia St., Huntington Beach.

“We just thought … she began there and we want to say goodbye to her there,” Tift’s mother Mary Logan said.

Tift was born in Huntington Beach and baptized at Sts. Simon and Jude. She earned her teaching credentials at UCLA. She married Wade Tift, a Newport-Mesa resident, in 2003. Candace Tift taught fourth and fifth grades at Eastbluff Elementary.

She was a mother to a 15-month-old boy, Owen. To help pay for Owen’s education, a fund has been set up in his name at the Orange County Teachers Federal Credit Union.

Tift, 31, was riding her bicycle along West Coast Highway at dusk Aug. 23 when a car jumped the curb and hit her. She suffered major injuries to her head and body and died the next day.

The car’s driver, Janene Kathleen Johns, 52, of Irvine, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of prescription drugs. She posted bail, and no charges have been filed.

To contribute to the Owen Tift Memorial Fund, mail donations to the Orange County Teachers Federal Credit Union, Attn: Owen Tift Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 11547, Santa Ana, CA 92711.