Panthers’ ‘biggest fan,’ struck by SUV, died after cheering on her team

The closets in Diane Babinec’s home in Tega Cay, S.C., are filled with Carolina Panthers football jerseys, most of them bearing the names and numbers of Cam Newton, Luke Kuechly and Greg Olsen, her favorite players on her favorite team.

In front of her townhouse, a pair of Panthers flags fly all season long.

And “mostly because of her,” said husband Gary, “you can count on one hand” the number of Panthers’ home games the couple missed in the last 17 or so years.

They were at last Sunday’s game at Bank of America Stadium. But because they had a commitment to prepare for, he said, they left halfway through the fourth quarter to avoid the post-game traffic jam.

Then, while walking with her husband to their car, the 73-year-old Babinec was hit by an SUV. It happened on West Morehead Street, where two of the four lanes were closed to traffic during the Panthers game.

Babinec was taken to the hospital, where she died on Monday.

The 19-year-old driver of the SUV “was screened for impairment, and none was detected,” according to a news release from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department. “Speed does not appear to be a factor in this case.”

No arrests have been made, but a CMPD spokeswoman said the crash is still under investigation.

Babenic was the 27th pedestrian killed this year in Charlotte.

“I didn’t see her get hit. She was behind me,” said Gary Babenic, who called his wife “vibrant. She was 73 going on 53. ... She loved life, loved the Panthers, loved people. And she had a lot of people who loved her.”

News of her death spread quickly and widely on social media, where Babinec had won friends and fans of her own by sharing her enthusiasm for the Panthers, win or lose, via tweets, retweets and Facebook posts.

Her fellow Carolina Pantherettes — a group of 10,000-plus women fans active on social media — ran a picture on their Facebook page of Babinec beating a Panthers “Keep Pounding” drum.

“Our sisterhood extends our heartfelt condolences and prayers to the family of our Pantherette sister,” read the post. “May you rest with the angels forever and may the Lord comfort your family, friends and #PantherNation.”

Sonja Anderson, who founded the group, said Babinec “had a very, very contagious love for the Panthers.”

Born and raised in Utica, N.Y., Diane Marie Babenic was a hair stylist for many years. And she loved to walk — five to seven miles a day.

Gary Babenic said he and his wife were New York Giants fans when they moved from New York to the Carolinas for his job 23 years ago.

But that soon changed after they started going to Panther games with a friend who had four PSLs — personal seat licenses that give the holder the right to buy season tickets and claim certain seats.

A year later, the Babenics offered to buy two of the PSLs.

Living just 20 minutes from the stadium, Gary Babenic said, they looked forward to the tailgating, their fellow fans, and the action on the field.

“It wasn’t about winning or losing with her,” Babenic’s husband said of her interest in the NFL team. “She hoped that they’d win, she prayed that they’d win. But it was about supporting them, cheering for them, being there.”

She was a fan who understood the game and the players’ positions, he said: “She’d see a flag fly and could tell you what (penalty) it was for.”

In 2015, the year the Panthers went 15-1 and made it to the Super Bowl, Babenic became one of the “integral members” of the Pantherettes, said Anderson, who founded the group in 2014.

Lynette VanSlyke, Babenic’s sister in New York, said the Panthers even dominated their long-distance phone conversations. “That’s all she ever talked about,” said VanSlyke.

Babinec’s love for her adopted team was obvious to her Facebook friends and Twitter followers.

On her Twitter page, Babinec identified herself as “panther biggest fan!!! love the team!!!!”

And recently on Facebook, she changed her profile picture and cover photo every few days to feature yet another variation on the fierce Panthers logo — including one outlined in pink.

On Nov. 9, in a reply to a post on the Panthers’ Facebook page, Babinec wrote: “Let’s all support our team. Keep Pounding! Life is short. Let’s enjoy. Go Panthers.”

Donna Ferguson, who manages Tega Cay Salon and Spa, where Babenic worked for more than 10 years before retiring, said her friends and former clients are “devastated” over the sudden death of someone with such a youthful demeanor and “a big warm smile.”

“Here she’s doing something she loved, and the next day (she’s) gone,” Ferguson said. “Never could you think that that’s (her) last game.”

A prayer service for her will be held at 6 p.m. Friday at Palmetto Funeral Home in Fort Mill. The family will receive friends immediately following the service at the funeral home until 8 p.m.

She is survived by her husband, a daughter, a son, two stepdaughters, one stepson and seven grandchildren.

This story was originally published November 29, 2018 at 5:04 PM.