Vigil remembers Gretna moms killed in West Omaha crash

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - Police are still investigating Thursday night’s fatal crash at the intersection of 192nd and F streets that claimed the lives of two Gretna mothers.

A pickup and an SUV collided, and the SUV caught fire, killing 37-year-old Sara Zimmerman and 38-year-old Amanda Schook on the scene.

Sunday night, dozens of friends, family and strangers gathered at the intersection to celebrate their lives and share stories about the women.

“Just two great souls,” says Paige Burbach, a friend and coworker of Amanda’s.

“Just shock. Utter shock,” says Ernest Black, a long-time coworker of Sara’s.

Sara was a correctional officer in Douglas County for 15 years — she was helping inmates prepare for life outside of jail. She was also eight months pregnant.

“She was, always brought a smile to your face, laughed and joked with us, made things lighter, she was just a joy to be around,” Black says.

“Sara never said no to anyone as far as giving them a chance,” says former coworker Whitney Johnson. “Her goal in life was to go to work and do her best everyday and make sure that each of her clients got her attention, and got the best opportunity possible to reach their goals.”

Sara and Amanda were best friends. Amanda worked as a speech therapist at Brookstone Village

“She loved her residents, she loved doing speech therapy and I’ve said this multiple times and we keep talking about it the first thing she would talk about Monday morning was her family, her kids were deeply loved,” Burbach and Lora DeLair, also a coworker of Amanda, tell 6 News.

Friends and family say the two women impacted hundreds of lives, and they were taken from their families and community far too soon.

“Sara was the most genuine, joyful, smiling person I’ve ever, ever met,” Johnson adds.

“There was never a time she wasn’t trying to help somebody out, to better their lives,” Black tells 6 News.

“It’s still kind of not real for us, we’re kind of in that unknown stage of, ‘did that really happen?’”

Police have not yet released results of the crash investigation. The driver of the pickup truck, a 21-year-old man, was taken to the hospital with back and chest factures.

Police tell 6 News that alcohol and speed are possible factors.

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