Elizabeth Anne Kosko, whose sobriety was celebrated at the Clark County Courthouse last fall when she graduated from Substance Abuse Court, committed suicide last week.

Kosko’s Oct. 26 graduation was the subject of an article in The Columbian, as was her 2007 arrest that led her to the treatment court.

During the graduation, Kosko, whose blood-alcohol limit was more than four times the legal limit of .08 when she was arrested in 2007, was lauded for her commitment to sobriety.

March marked two years of sobriety.

Clark County Superior Court Judge Rich Melnick, who presided over Substance Abuse Court when Kosko started, and District Court Judge Vern Schreiber, who took over the program from Melnick, both expressed shock Monday over the news of Kosko’s April 7 death. Kosko was 35.

At the graduation, Kosko had a courtroom full of supporters and promised them, “When I look in the mirror, I see a strong woman in recovery.”

“This is such a tragedy,” Schreiber wrote in an email. “She was doing so well after a long hard struggle. Such a sad loss to many people.”

At her graduation, Melnick told Kosko that her 2007 arrest — in which she passed out while driving drunk with her children, who called their father, who called 911 — was “a horrible circumstance that I think happened for a reason.”

“I couldn’t be prouder of you,” he told Kosko.

Her body was discovered northeast of Washougal, according to the Clark County Medical Examiner’s Office.

“You just never know what inner demons people are fighting,” Melnick said Monday. “She knew there were ups and downs (of recovery). It’s very, very sad. She was so excited to go back and start her life again.”

Defense attorney Brooke Vitasovic said Monday that she’d kept in touch with Kosko. She said Kosko was excited about her job, her classes and living on her own. Kosko had also been spending time with her children.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Vitasovic said. “I’m shocked.” She said Kosko was upbeat the last time they’d talked, which was a few weeks ago.

“She seemed great,” she said.

Kosko, who grew up in Monmouth, Ore., said during her graduation that she’d started drinking at age 16.

According to her obituary, published by Farnstrom Mortuary of Independence, Ore., Kosko was attending Clark College and wanted to be a teacher.

“If she was here with us, she would tell you to ask for help in your struggles and to give a helping hand to others. Her friends call her ‘Lil’bit,’ but her heart was huge,” her obituary read.

A celebration of life service will be Saturday at her parents’ home in Monmouth.

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