People mourn for mom from Myrtle

Published 10:03 am Monday, July 7, 2008

Kelly Jo Abrego

Kelly John Pechumer

Family and friends of 25-year-old Kelly Jo Abrego of Myrtle paid final respects Saturday to the mother of three who died about a week ago from injuries related to a car wreck on a washed-out portion of Freeborn County Road 34.

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Abrego, who attended Albert Lea schools and recently obtained her GED, had worked at Home Depot and at Korner Mart on Main Street. She was engaged to be married to longtime boyfriend Langdon Bachtle — who was also in the wreck — with whom she was a proud mother of three girls, Haley, Leah and Alyiah.

Abrego’s death came after the 2003 Chevrolet Avalanche she was riding in on the early morning hours of June 29 went into the washed-out portion, landed on top of a steel culvert and crashed into the south side of the washout.

The road had been washed out since heavy rains on June 11 and 12. The funeral was at Trinity Lutheran Church in Albert Lea.

“The shock has yet to fully wear off,” said the Rev. Kenneth Jensen, who conducted the service. “It hasn’t really sunk in that Kelly is no longer with us.”

People in attendance, including the other remaining passengers, cried as Abrego’s casket was brought into the room, followed by Bachtle, her mother, her three girls and other family and friends.

Bachtle wore a neck brace and appeared to have a broken arm, while some of the other passengers also had other visible injuries.

“Absorbing the pain will not be easy,” Jensen said.

Already, myriad emotions have come, he said.

He read scriptures from Psalms, by request of Abrego’s mother, Sandra, and talked of how there would be feelings of guilt and loneliness in the coming weeks of recovery. In these times of struggle, he said, he encouraged people to turn to God for solace.

“One day life will begin to go on, but it takes time to heal,” Jensen said. “It cannot be hurried.”

The evening before — during Abrego’s visitation — Jensen said he learned that Abrego could have been a second Ann Landers in offering advice to her friends. He joked also that she was so glad when she was finally done with diapers.

She loved to baby-sit everyone’s kids and will be remembered as Myrtle’s neighborhood mom. Myrtle is a town of 61 people in London Township.

Everybody has a story or a memory of her, Jensen said.

After Jensen’s words and songs “I Can Only Imagine” and “Friends are Friends Forever” by soloist Julie Keran, Abrego was taken to Hollandale Cemetery in Hollandale to be buried.

She was the second person to die in the washed out part of County Road 34 since the flooding in June. Her death follows the death of Dale Wangen of rural Albert Lea on the early morning hours of June 12 and preceded the death of her friend Kelly John Pechumer, who was also in the wreck.

His funeral will be at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Home with visitation from 5 to 7 p.m. Monday at Bayview/Freeborn Funeral Home and one-hour prior to the service.

Pechumer attended Albert Lea High School, where he twice went to the state tournaments in wrestling. He attended Minnesota State University, Mankato, and later entered the U.S. Army.

His interment will be at Hillcrest Cemetery with military honors accorded by the Freeborn County servicemen’s organization.

All of the other passengers involved with the wreck have been released from St. Marys Hospital in Rochester.

Passenger Broc Dempewolf, 22, of Albert Lea was reportedly released Friday. He joins passengers Nathan Buchli and Bachtle, along with driver Charles Kenneth Dennison.