BOISE, Idaho — To say this past week for the family of the three people killed in a seven-car crash that happened Saturday near Mountain Home has been difficult, would be an understatement. Friends, family and the community continue to mourn the loss of Laurie Bloomquist, Lisa Holland and her baby Milo.
"Lisa and I shared relatives so we were family even though it wasn’t the same genetics,” said Joy Streight, who was also Lisa’s pastor. “She wasn’t a casual friend, she was a real friend.”
On Saturday, Lisa's sister Laurie was in town from Portland, when they, along with Lisa’s husband Dan and their baby Milo spent the day at Bruneau Sand Dunes State Park. They were on their way back, when the storm hit.
“The rain was first and Dan said it was bad enough that they were preparing to pull over when the dust storm came and visibility was lost,” Streight said.
But they weren't able to. Instead, their car, along with six others crashed, killing Lisa and Laurie. Paramedics took Milo to the hospital, where the 8-month-old later died.
“He was just a delight. He was the perfect baby,” Streight said. "It was beyond, it was really beyond what I could bear at the moment, although the Lord is really good at kind of holding on to you in those moments.”
Laurie was a teacher, as well as a psychologist.
“She had an impact on so many lives,” Streight said. “She was just this quiet, very dependable, very steady, loyal, lovely.”
She adds, Laurie loved the outdoors and was energetic.
On Thursday, the mayor of Kuna, along with dozens of student volunteers gathered to start construction on an outdoor shopping center. It was the vision of Lisa’s and something that she's worked on for almost three years as the economic development director for the city of Kuna.
“Her vision was to create opportunities, and the opportunity is for students from the high school to come out and get to do these buildings and learn how to do the construction, and for the builders to reach the kids and possibly look for some prospective employees,” said Kuna Mayor Joe Stear.
As the park stretcher for the city of Kuna, Bobby Withrow worked with Lisa on a number of projects.
“It's been a dream of hers for a while and we're just trying to make it happen,” Withrow said. “I think she'd be ecstatic right now with everybody working, the biggest thing was always to get the kids on the ground doing the work.”
As for Streight, she says she'll miss getting to watch Milo grow. She's also going to miss singing with Lisa in church.
“She was just so present in our lives and she lived so well that there can’t be any regrets, there weren't any loving words left unsaid. They were said all the time,” Streight said. “She made us all feel like perhaps we were the most important person in her life.”
Streight told KTVB, Lisa's husband Dan suffered a severe concussion, as well as deep cuts to his arms and head. She says he'll recover and is leaning hard on the Lord right now and the people surrounding him.
A service will be held on Friday, May 14 at 10 a.m. at NNU Brandt Center. A casual outdoor gathering will also be held on May 15 at 5707 W. Castle Drive in Boise at 10 a.m.
A GoFundMe is also set up for the family here.