‘She was one in a million’: Friends, coworkers remember two women killed in crash

By Abbie Petersen

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    OMAHA, Nebraska (KETV) — On Sunday, friends and coworkers remembered two Gretna women killed in a crash.

One woman was eight months pregnant, remembered as an impactful corrections officer.

The other, a caring speech pathologist with a passion for family.

Now both Gretna women are gone and their friends say they’re still in shock.

Thirty-seven-year-old Sara Zimmerman and 38-year old Amanda Schook were both killed in a fiery crash late Thursday night near 192nd and F streets.

Investigators say a pickup truck hit their SUV.

They say Zimmerman was eight months pregnant.

Dozens of people were at 192nd and F Sunday, showing their support for the families of both victims.

Friends and coworkers say the women were best friends.

Three crosses sit in the grass near 192nd and F honoring two women who spent their lives serving and helping others and another life that had yet to be brought into the world.

“This is the sort of thing that you don’t expect. And when something like this happens, it devastates us,” Bryan Laux said.

Holding candles and giving hugs at the vigil, immense agony in the faces of those who knew and loved them all.

Thirty-seven-year-old Sara Zimmerman, a corrections worker of 15 years who was eight months pregnant.

“She was a beautiful person. Inside and out. She worked in a very tough environment. She was somebody who navigated it with grace and dignity,” said coworker Michael Meyers.

The union for corrections officers held the vigil.

Zimmerman’s coworkers say they will feel this loss – forever.

“Sara was just a ray of light in a dark place once she walked in the building, he just brought a common grace with her that is just not matched and we’re never going to be able to replace it,” Laux said.

The Fraternal Order of Police has opened an account at the Omaha Police FCU for donations.

Thirty-eight-year-old Amanda Schook was a speech-language pathologist.

Co-workers say she loved the Fourth of July.

Sunday they wore ribbons and socks to honor her.

“I think what I want everyone to know about her is just how much she loved her kids. She was obsessed with them. She talked about them constantly. And my prayers are just with them,” Paige Burbach said.

They say her kindness, was constant.

“She just had such a giving heart. You know, a couple of weeks ago, she asked me to drop off a breast pump machine at the homeless shelter just to donate it. She was just such a caring person,” Kayla Kivett said.

Friends say they won’t focus on the tragic end to the women’s lives but how many lives they changed.

“We won’t be able to replace her she was one in a million,” Meyers said.

There is a GoFundMe set up for Amanda’s family.

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