MIDDLETOWN -- Family and friends are grappling with the loss of Barbara Eddinger, who’s better known as Bobbi.
“Humble, gentle, she had a gentle smile, she was compassionate,” her friend Sandy Zajac said. “She loved her family, loved her family dearly.”
Middletown Police said that at around 2:15 p.m. Thursday afternoon, Eddinger, 61, of Middletown, was at her mailbox on Chamberlain Road when an SUV driving east crossed the center line and hit her. The SUV drove off.
Eddinger was taken to the Middlesex Hospital, where she died.
Police are searching for the SUV and driver responsible for the fatal hit-and-run.
The Middletown Police Traffic Division uncovered new surveillance video which shows the suspect vehicle as a newer model, midsize, two-tone SUV. It has a dark blue/black lower half, and a lighter color by the roofline.
Bobbi was a mother of five. Her family owned a business, Stone Post Gardens, which sprouted from a small greenhouse her son started years ago, and turned into the Randolph Road location in 2003.
“I just said a prayer to God, I said 'God you must have really needed an angel up there to take her away from her family,'” Zajac said.
Eddinger was a devoted wife and had been taking care of her husband, who just had an accident in the past week, according to Zajac.
“He had fallen in their in-ground pool and received a skull fracture,” she said.
Eddinger was described as one of those people who truly never left anyone's side, and also played a big role in her church, Grace Lutheran Church.
“There aren't many people around like her, she was really special,” Zajac said.
The two were both members of the Middlesex Hospital Vocal Chords. Eddinger was the pianist. The group performs several shows and events with the goal to heal others through music.
“We always say it's a vocal chords family,” Zajac said.
Middletown Police ask that anyone with any information contact the Middletown Police Department: 860-638-4000.