Milwaukee DPW driver involved in deadly Wauwatosa crash identified

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Milwaukee Department of Public Works says a beloved employee had a valid driver's license when she crashed into multiple vehicles on Tuesday, Dec. 13.

64-year-old Denise Durrah and two others were killed. The cause of the crash is still under investigation, and the driver is being remembered at a vigil tonight.

It was an emotional night here at 42nd and Burleigh, as people gathered to remember Denise Durrah -- a woman everyone called auntie.

Longtime friends of Denise tell CBS 58 she was a woman of faith -- and a woman of the community.

She worked for the DPW since 2018.

The DPW tells CBS 58 she was highly regarded among co-workers and supervisors as a gracious and hard-working person.

"She took in those that were lost, she opened her doors to those that were strangers, she fed those that were hungry, she gave to those that were without, she was a friend to the friendless and mother to the motherless," said Estelle Cockroft, friend of Denise Durrah.

Denise was a mother to one daughter. Her name is Maggie.

The vigil lasted for about an hour.