ARLINGTON -- Julie Buford went most places by foot, pacing off the distances to the everyday places in her life to maintain her punctuality.
The main branch of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Arlington, where she loved to volunteer, was four blocks northwest of her home; her job as a concessionaire at Cowboys Stadium four blocks northeast.The Arlington Church of God was farther -- about 13 blocks -- but that didn't stop her from helping out with the children's program at her place of worship a couple of times a month.So it was no surprise to anyone who knew the 48-year-old Arlington woman that she would be hoofing it to the Wal-Mart Supercenter by the stadium at 6:30 a.m. Aug. 15, even if it had been raining off and on. "She walked everywhere," Church of God Pastor Ross Lortie said.She never made it to the store. While crossing the 600 block of North Collins Street, she was struck by several vehicles -- the first of which police say did not stop -- and died on the spot.Kevin Buford was on his way to class at a North Richland Hills technical school when his wife of 12 years took her final steps. Dealing with her death has been easy compared with dealing with the circumstances surrounding it, he said Thursday."She didn't deserve this," he said from a living room couch. Framed pictures of his wife alone and of them together decorate a wall, a corner of the kitchen counter and the top of the large TV. "If I could talk to the person who did it, I would ask, 'Why?'"He paused to fight back tears, then continued. "Why didn't you stop?"Police seeking helpArlington police said Thursday that they believe that the vehicle was a Ford Explorer Sport Trac built between 2000 and 2005 and that it would have had extensive front-end damage. They renewed their request for anybody who might have information on the case to call accident investigator Roger Lee at 817-459-5635 or to call Crime Stoppers at 817-459-8477 to submit an anonymous tip. Crime Stoppers offers up to $1,000 for tips.Julie Buford went to high school in Illinois and later moved to northwest Alabama, near the Mississippi state line, where she now lies in the Red Bay Cemetery next to her mother."I felt that's what she wanted," said her husband, who hails from Bakersfield, Calif. The couple moved to Arlington about eight years ago and have lived in the Oak Haven Estates mobile home park since then.Julie Buford didn't have a driver's license, in part because of medical problems, her husband said. But she liked to stay busy.At the Boys & Girls Clubs, where she volunteered for four years, the children called her "Miss Julie" and greeted her happily whenever they saw her, branch director Matthew Sinclair said.The younger members, in particular, have struggled to understand that she is no longer around."Sometimes one of the babies will say, 'Miss Julie was supposed to help me with this art project,'" he said. "And we'll have to explain to them that she's passed on. It's been tough. They don't have much experience with this.""She was such a part of the club," he added. "We're like a family here, and this has been like losing any other family member.""We loved her for it"During nonclub hours, Buford busied herself with dusting and sweeping indoors and with tidying up the grounds outdoors, said Michael Gonzales, vice president of development for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Arlington, whose administrative offices are adjacent to the main branch.On her off days, she would often drop in just to remind everybody that she wasn't working that day, he said."If she was having a bad day, just give her a few minutes," he said. "She'd be having a good day."Lortie, her pastor, said she was known for calling those close to her several times a day, sometimes just to check that they had received a text message from her. "We loved her for it," he said. "She was like a big kid."A sudden inability to contact her the morning she died first gave her relatives a clue that something was wrong. "She always answered," Lortie said. As the news spread that a pedestrian had been killed, the family "started putting two and two together," he said.Kevin Buford said he hopes that somebody will come forward with the information police need to find the first driver."That's my biggest request," he said. "There's businesses around here, like body shops, that might have come across it."Patrick M. Walker, 817-983-8080Twitter: @patrickmwalker1Have more to add? News tip? Tell us
