H.B. native dies after crash

Friends and family will gather today to remember a Huntington Beach native 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, who lived in Costa Mesa and was an elementary school teacher in Newport Beach, was born in Huntington Beach and baptized at Sts. Simon and Jude. She earned her teaching credentials at UCLA. She married Wade Tift in 2003. 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 Pacific 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.

Last week, Tift’s organs were donated to three people. While she was in the hospital, family and friends had a chance to see her and say goodbye.

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.

Logan said her daughter was strongly against people driving under the influence.

“Anybody that ever had a drink, she would not let them drive,” Logan said.

Tift taught fourth and fifth grade at Eastbluff Elementary School in Newport Beach.

“She was really phenomenal,” said Newport Beach Fire Department spokesowman Jennifer Schulz, who met Tift in May 2006 while teaching a fire safety course in Tift’s classroom. “You could just tell the kids respected her.”

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.