Kalispell woman injured in hit-and-run dies

A 26-year-old Kalispell woman died on July 14 of injuries she sustained after she was struck in a hit-and-run incident in Portland, Oregon that left her in critical condition for several weeks.

Erin Catherine Brenneman was struck on June 22 by a driver who fled the scene. She was reportedly taking a walk while on a break from the Hungry Heart Bakery when she was hit and incurred a life-threatening brain injury, according to her father and former Flathead County Comm-issioner Joe Brenn-eman.

There have been no arrests and the suspect remains at large.

Brenneman was a 2009 Flathead High School graduate and had been working at the bakery in Portland for just under two years.

Brenneman’s brother, Jesse, set up a GoFundMe campaign to help raise funds to pay for her medical treatment. The page raised and exceeded its goal of $50,000 in under 30 days. He said the funds raised will now go toward her remaining medical and end-of-life expenses.

“It is a terrible thing to have to memorialize someone so young and so dear to us all,” Jesse said in an update to the page.

“Your ongoing support of us and Erin is so moving and humbling. Thank you for everything you all have done; most of all for how much you love Erin.”

Two memorial services have been scheduled to allow friends and family of Brenneman to honor and celebrate her life.

A Kalispell service will be held on the afternoon of July 30, and a Portland service will take place on August 16.

Exact locations and times will be posted on the GoFundMe page.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.