The night before the fatal accident, Sarah Stanislawski had flown back to Honolulu from a visit with friends and family in Illinois — bringing with her a pair of roller skates.
"She had just been home for the Christmas holidays," her father, Steve Stanislawski, said Tuesday by telephone from Oak Forest, Ill., a suburb of Chicago where she grew up. "We had a good time."
He took Sarah, the eldest of three children, snowboarding in Wisconsin, and she also went indoor roller skating with her niece in the Oak Forest area, he said.
"She was a roller skater," he said. "She had just brought them back with her."
On Jan. 6, the day after her return and two days after her 28th birthday, Sarah Stanislawski was killed roller skating downhill on steep Kikaha Street in Makakilo.
The city Medical Examiner’s Office released her identity Tuesday.
Stanislawski’s father says she was on her way to a housecleaning job.
Police said she was skating down the middle of the street and crashed into a moving BMW sedan at the intersection of Makakilo Drive at about 10:35 a.m.
She died at the scene.
A witness said she appeared exhilarated before the accident, with her arms outstretched, and shouted "Woohoo!" as she went by, "like she was flying."
Police Lt. Carlene Lau said roller-skating traffic deaths are uncommon on Oahu.
Stanislawski was traveling fast when she tried to turn right onto Makakilo Drive, and appeared to be losing control and falling as she hit the car’s passenger side, Lau said.
A city ordinance makes it illegal to ride roller skates, skateboards or toy vehicles on any roadway except to cross a street.
Police classified her death as a pedestrian accident, the second of three for Oahu this year.
Stanislawski moved to Hawaii four years ago, and in December had completed a program at Habilitat, a residential substance-abuse treatment program in Kaneohe, her father said.
"She was living in the real world, out on her own, making her way through the world," he said. She supported herself by housecleaning, working at a dry cleaner and tending bar.
Stanislawski enjoyed outdoor activities, including surfing, canoe paddling and hiking.
"She seems to have made a lot of friends," her father said. "We’re getting a lot of messages from friends out there in Hawaii."
Sarah Stanislawski graduated from high school in Oak Forest. Her Facebook page says she attended Eastern Illinois University.
"She was a really great person. I know she was excited to go back to Hawaii," said Chris Medina of Oak Forest.
"She looked great," Medina said. "She seemed happy. She got to see a lot of people she hadn’t seen in a long time. It just seemed like ironic that she got a chance to say goodbye to all her friends," he said.
"Out here she was loved, and we were all rooting for her," he said. "We were happy she was able to fight through her battles."
Medina said he learned of Stanislawski’s death in a call from his brother’s friend. "It was really a big shock. I didn’t believe it at first."
On Facebook a Hawaii friend posted, "Rest in love Sarah, one of the oldest souls and kindest hearts I knew. I was so proud of what you were accomplishing and moving on to doing. … I will miss you. … Fly with the angels."
Another Hawaii friend called her an angel and posted on Jan. 7, "Sarah, my best friend, sister … I will miss you. I love you. I will not forget you. You have always inspired me. "
