ROOSEVELT — Bruce and Sandra Hunt were the kind of people who made others wonder — how did they do everything so well?
Dedicated church leaders. Hard workers. Outgoing and full of energy. Good parents of children who excelled at school, athletics and music. They were friends to all and the first in line when someone needed help.
Four of the six Hunt children had served missions for the LDS Church. The Hunts were about to send their fifth child, son Tyler, to a mission in Brazil when they crashed Monday on their way to the Salt Lake Valley. The family's most recently returned missionary, Bryson, was also in the vehicle. All four died.
The loss of the Hunts has now left everyone in this rural community wondering how they can go on without those who did so much.
"You sit back and stand in awe of this family. You wondered what it is about them that made them so successful," said Russell Cowan, who worked alongside Bruce Hunt, 55, at Moonlake Electric Association for 20 years. "It's just that they lived Christ-like lives. (As a community) we just feel so devastated . . . the whole community feels a sense of loss."
The Hunts' car collided with another vehicle on U.S. 40 near Strawberry Reservoir, Utah Highway Patrol Lt. Doug McCleve said. Bruce, Sandra and one of the boys were killed at the scene. The other son was transported to a hospital, where he died later.
"Apparently the car was traveling westbound and lost control, crossed over the center line and was broadsided by a sport-utility vehicle coming the opposite direction," McCleve said.
The family was headed to spend the night with a daughter in Draper before putting Tyler on a Tuesday plane to the Missionary Training Center in Brazil.
Sandra Hunt's mother, Marie Pollock of Enterprise, said the family had gathered in Roosevelt on Sunday for Tyler's farewell. Throughout the day Sunday, the Hunts' Roosevelt friends kept telling Pollock how loved and respected her daughter's family was in the community.
"The people there just couldn't say enough about them," Pollock said, crying. "Somebody said, 'They are just the greatest family and we love them dearly.' "
Funeral services are being planned for both Roosevelt and Enterprise, where Sandra Hunt grew up and where she met her husband one summer when he came to work at his grandmother's farm. The Hunts and their children will be buried in Enterprise, Pollock said.
The Hunts have four other children. Three are grown and either married or away at college. Another son, 14-year-old Trevor, was staying with friends in Roosevelt Monday night when the accident happened.
"As devastated as we are, this community and all of (Trevor's) friends will rally around him," said Cowan. "We'll take care of him. We'll band together and get through this, but we're wounded."
E-MAIL: jdobner@desnews.com