HEBRON — After struggling alone as single parents, Gary and Stephanie Brewer fell in love and united their five small children into one big, happy family.

Charlene Sizemore comforts her granddaughter, Cheyenne Murphy, as they talk about Cheyenne's mother, Stephanie Brewer. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        They attended sporting events, picnicked in parks and were about to embark on camping trips. Just last week, Mr. Brewer began a new job and was encouraging Mrs. Brewer to quit hers, spend more time with their children and go to college.

        But this portrait of domestic bliss was shattered Saturday when the newly married couple were killed in a head-on collision while going to a Cincinnati Reds game, hoping to get Eric Davis bobblehead dolls.

        Mr. Brewer, 29, and Mrs. Brewer, 30, of Glencoe, Ky., were struck while trying to avoid a car that drifted across the double-yellow line into their path near the intersection of Aviation Boulevard and Kentucky 20. Now, the couple's parents plan to raise their grandchildren, who range in age from 3 to 8. They are pledging that the youngsters won't be ripped from each other, too.

        “Stephanie and Gary always said they loved each other's kids just as if they were their own,” said Mrs. Brewer's mother, Charlene Sizemore of Glencoe, Sunday. “These kids have already bonded, and we are going to make sure they keep contact. They call themselves brothers and sisters, share clothes, sleep together and fight like brothers and sisters. But if something happens to one, they all come running.”

Torey and Jordan (front, from left) and Cheyenne, Kerry and August (back, from left). (Family photo) | ZOOM |

        Ms. Sizemore said she hopes to rear her daughter's two children, her daughter, Cheyenne Murphy, 6, and son, Jordan Murphy, 8. Shirley and Gary Brewer Sr.. of Walton plan to take in their son's three children: two girls, Kerry, 5, and Torey, 7, and his son, August, 3.

        When their parents died, the children were at home, playing — a familiar scene at the Brewer home, said Ms. Sizemore, who lives next door.

        They have been together constantly since Mr. and Mrs. Brewer began dating last year and were to attend the same elementary school this fall.

        Jordan is teaching August to play baseball. The girls love to smear on lots of “mommy's makeup” and perform in mock “shows,” pretending to be pop singer Britney Spears.

        Pictures of the new family line a shelf in their kitchen. Ms. Sizemore said she often has driven up to see the kids and Mr. Brewer on a swing set between their two homes or riding bikes she bought the family.

        “He was planning on buying a camper to go on camping trips,” Ms. Sizemore tearfully said Sunday at her sister's Florence home.

        While hugging and kissing Cheyenne, she gazed at family photos spread across the dining room table. “For the first time, they did family things together. They were a match made in heaven.”

Newlyweds Stephanie and Gary Brewer. (Family photo) | ZOOM |

        Ms. Sizemore paused, kissed her granddaughter's forehead and told her, “I love you.”

        “I love you,” responded Cheyenne, whose eyes are the same deep shade of blue as her mother's. “We are going to make it through this,” Ms. Sizemore whispered to her.

        In the months leading up to the accident, the couple had never been happier, according to Ms. Sizemore and Mr. Brewer's family and friends. Mr. and Mrs. Brewer began dating last year while co-workers at a Florence distribution center.

        Mr. Brewer, a graduate of Walton-Verona High School, and his children moved into Mrs. Brewer's home in November after his home and belongings were destroyed in a fire. In April, the couple were married in Las Vegas — Mr. Brewer was an Elvis Presley fan.

        “He called me and her father — he lives in Florida — and asked for her hand in marriage,” Ms. Sizemore recalled. “He got the ring and took her back to the restaurant they went on their first date, got down on his hands and knees and asked her. She thought he was teasing at first, but then she jumped up in his arms.”

        The couple, both previously divorced, struggled to raise their children alone before finding each other, both families said Sunday. The couple discussed Mr. Brewer adopting Mrs. Brewer's children but hadn't gotten around to it before Saturday's accident, Ms. Sizemore said. Mrs. Brewer, a Dixie Heights High School graduate, is the only mother August knows.

        “Gary finally gave Stephanie her self-esteem back,” Ms. Sizemore said. “He told her she should be a model and she was so proud when they got married. She wore a lavender dress and flowers in her hair. They idolized each other. And they taught and disciplined each other's children. They did everything together.”

        Visitation and funeral arrangements are pending but visitation for both will be at Stith Funeral Home in Florence, and they may even be buried together, said Mr. Brewer's father. “My wife said she wanted them together,” Mr. Brewer Sr. said Sunday. “That would be what they wanted.”

        Just before the 4:38 p.m.. accident, the couple were on their way to pick up one of Mr. Brewer's friends, Chris Cepek of Hebron.

        “He called me at 4:20 and said, "I'm on my way, and I'll be there as fast as I can,”' Mr. Cepek recalled Sunday. “I told him, "It's all right, it's just a bobblehead. Don't worry about it.' He said, "But it's an Eric Davis bobblehead!”'

        When the couple failed to arrive by 4:30 p.m., Mr. Cepek said he went on to the game without them after failing to reach them on their cellular telephones.

        When he returned home, his wife told him about the accident. The other person involved in the wreck, Marvin Babb, 69, of Burlington, suffered multiple injuries and was listed in fair condition Sunday at University Hospital.

        Boone County authorities said Mr. Babb was traveling east on Kentucky 20 when he drove into the westbound lane. Mr. Brewer attempted to get out of the way by pulling his Dodge Neon into the eastbound lane but collided when Mr. Babb pulled his Cadillac back into his own lane.

        Boone County Coroner Doug Stith, who pronounced the Brewers dead at the scene, called the couple's home, got the baby sitter and spoke with Mrs. Brewer's mother.

        “He kept saying "You need someone there with you,”' Ms. Sizemore recalled Sunday. “But I kept asking him what happened, where was my daughter. I told him I'm alone here with five kids and a baby sitter.

        Then he told me, "Your daughter has passed on.' I asked him if I needed to come there and he said, "You do not need to see her. You do not need to see her.”'

        According to the Boone County Sheriff's Department, Mrs. Brewer was wearing a seat belt. Neither speed nor alcohol appears to be a contributing factor to the crash, which still is being investigated.

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