Leavitt, whose brother is Mike Leavitt, former Utah governor and the U.S. secretary of Health and Human Services, said the plane was transporting half of Dr. Ellsworth's dermatology staff. According to Leavitt, half of the clinic operated in a medical office, with the other half traveling on a daily basis to outlying communities that would otherwise be unable to receive their services.

"It's been an absolute tragedy," said Dr. Rand Colbert, Dr. Ellsworth's business partner. "The people on board were absolutely amazing people.

"I've been really impressed by the way the community has pulled together."

The Ellsworth family issued a statement Saturday thanking friends and family for their support.

"We appreciate the outpouring of love we've received from neighbors, family and friends," the family statement said. "Your prayers and faith are sustaining us. ... The loss of these medical providers will be felt far and wide. Their service will not soon be forgotten."

Town in mourning

Cedar City, the town the pilot and nine clinic staffers call home, was shaken by news of the crash. Of the 10 people who died, four victims were from two families, the Ellsworth and Goddard families. One victim, Dallin Ellsworth, left a wife who is pregnant and due to give birth in five weeks. Another victim, Mandy Johnson, got engaged Thursday — a day before she was killed.

Cedar City Police Chief Bob Allinson said the town of 28,000 has "grown so much, everybody doesn't know everybody anymore. But there's still a lot of family connections and civic connections."

For instance, Allinson had been a patient of Dr. Ellsworth and has an officer whose mother, Valerie Imlay, worked at the clinic and was killed in the crash.

"Val," as people called her, was civic-minded. "She was a good, good woman," Allinson said.

Imlay served on a board that raises money for the Children's Justice Center, an organization that interviews abused children for police investigations.

Allinson's police department also had the job of notifying next of kin about the crash, along with the Iron County Sheriff's Office, after the Grand County Sheriff's Office notified them.

"Definitely, I don't know anything much worse than telling people their loved one's passed away," he said.

Bret Whittier, president of the Cedar North Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, knew Dr. Ellsworth, the clinic director, and his son, Dallin Ellsworth. The Ellsworth family is holding onto their faith. While visitors came to the family's single-story gray stone and brick house to give condolences to the family Saturday night, Dr. Ellsworth's wife attended a stake conference meeting. "She's a strong woman," Whittier said.

Dr. Ellsworth had lived in Cedar City for about 13 years, President Whittier said. Prior to that, the family lived in Tucson, Ariz. Dr. Ellsworth had four children and was born and raised in Mesa, Ariz.