Mendi Cotter, director of communications for St. Paul University Parish at Wichita State, died Monday morning in a crash. 

In a Facebook post on Monday evening, the parish said Cotter was driving through fog on Kellogg toward Cheney for auto repairs when an oncoming driver pulled into her lane to avoid stopped traffic from another crash. 

The driver collided head-to-head with Cotter’s car, read the post signed by Father David Michael. She was pronounced dead at the scene. 

Just before the accident, Cotter had dropped off her two children at school following Mass at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church. 

“Please, Keep us in your prayers,” the Facebook post read. “Especially, the family of Mendi. She is in heaven as she received Jesus this morning at Mass. She had the Food for the Journey!”

Cotter’s coworkers remember her as someone who was always positive and left an impact on all who came through the parish. 

“Mendi was definitely a very important person here,” said Tony Cruzeiro, office associate at the parish. “Reflecting back on her and her life, the one thing that pretty much everyone agrees on is they remember her happy. They remember her smiling and her positive attitude.

“She brought light into the room.”

Cotter was also a graduate student at the Elliott School of Communication.

Elliott School Graduate Coordinator Lisa Parcell said Cotter was a vital piece in the school’s graduate program. 

“Mendi was a warm, caring student who was supportive to everyone around her,” Parcell said in an email to The Sunflower. “I enjoyed having her in class because she was always willing to contribute to the conversation and offered her own unique perspective. Her passing has left a hole in our program.”

The last time Parcell spoke to Cotter, Cotter was planning her capstone project for her Master’s degree. She said Cotter was thinking of combining two of “her loves” — her faith and photography.

“I wish she could have seen the project through, but I find comfort in the fact that she was excited about the work,” Parcell said. “Mendi will be sadly missed.”

Cotter’s vigil and rosary service will be held at 7 p.m. Thursday at the St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church, 645 N. 119th St. Her funeral will be held at 10 a.m. Friday at the same church. 

Credo Coffee, a coffee shop inside St. Paul’s University Parish, is raising money for Cotter’s family through t-shirt sales. Each shirt is $10.