'Rivergate girls' save life of one of their regulars

Mayor Bill Partington gave the employees of Rivergate Coffee Shop a proclamation for their heroic efforts.

By Emily Blackwood
| 11:15 a.m. April 25, 2017

The employees of Rivergate Coffee Shop, Karen Diedo and Mayor Bill Partington (Photo by Emily Blackwood)

Ormond Beach Observer
News

Marie Jerpi has been enjoying the blueberry pancakes and club sandwiches at Rivergate Coffee Shop almost every day for "quite some time."

So when the Ormond Beach resident didn't show up for her regular meal for four days, the employees of the shop started to worry. On April 10, one of the "Rivergate girls" called the clubhouse at Ormond Lakes where Jerpi lives to ask if anyone had seen her.

Two members of the Ormond Lakes Homeowners Association Board went to Jerpi's house and rang the doorbell. They said no one answered, and that it was locked up tight with mail still in her mailbox. That same day, the Ormond Beach Police Department did a wellness check.

After also ringing the doorbell, Jerpi's neighbor, Karen Diedo, peeked through the blinds and saw that Jerpi's TV was still on. So she went home and searched the internet for Jerpi's relatives. She was able to contact a daughter who contacted a cousin who was about to get into Jerpi's house.

It was there, they discovered she had fallen and was unconscious — but is expected to fully recover. Mayor Bill Partington read a proclamation April 18, commending the efforts of the girls at the Rivergate Coffee Shop and Jerpi's neighbor, Karen Diedo.