BEAR CREEK — Stuart Setliff said he can still remember a visit with Elizabeth Foster and her daughter, Rebecca Patton, when he was a teenager.

"I was friends with Ms. Foster's grandson and I was over there at their house all the time," said Setliff, a Tuscumbia Police officer. "It was such a loving atmosphere. They treated me like I was one of their own and made me feel at home.

"I always said going to their house was like going to my grandmother's house."

On Friday morning Setliff learned the two women were in a traffic accident Thursday that killed Patton and sent her mother to the hospital.

Police said Patton, 56, 13-7 Annapolis Ave., Sheffield, died at the scene. Foster, her 89-year-old mother who lived at the same address, was flown from the scene to UAB Hospital where she is listed in fair condition, according to spokesman Kevin Storey.

The accident happened in Bear Creek late Thursday afternoon.

Bear Creek Police Chief Ed Franks said the wreck happened on Alabama 13 near the Marion 99 intersection, in front of Harden Manufacturing Co.

Reports indicate Patton was driving a 2000 Oldsmobile Intrigue that ran off the road and hit a ditch. She was traveling south toward Haleyville when the accident happened.

Franks said according to a witness who was following the car, the vehicle ran off the road, hit the ditch, went airborne and flipped upside down.

Witnesses said the car went 20 feet in the air before coming down on its nose and flipping over.

Setliff said he still has a lot of fond memories from the time he spent at the Foster home. He said Patton used to drive a truck with her ex-husband.

"She was a good lady," Setliff said. "And Ms. Foster, she's special.

"She made the best fried chicken I ever tasted. We used to kid her that she needed to start a chicken shack. One thing about it, when you went to their house, you never left there hungry.

"It's just a good family with a loving heart. I really hate this happen to them."

Bear Creek police are investigating the accident.

Tom Smith can be reached at 256-740-5757 or tom.smith@TimesDaily.com.