Moab plane crash victims remembered one year later

Jed Imlay works to keep up the garden his mother loved but says it's not the same without her.

Imlay's mother, Valerie Imlay, used to spend hours gardening and volunteering in their community until an Aug. 22, 2008, plane crash took her life and those of nine others flying back home to Cedar City from Moab.

"We had a family reunion recently, and it was horrible without her here," said Imlay, 27. "Mom was definitely the backbone in our family. Women are better than men. It's just true."

Imlay was in Salt Lake visiting his girlfriend's family when his father, Mark Imlay, called in hysterics about the accident. The young man raced home to his family, who were all devastated by the tragedy.

The plane crashed shortly after taking off from Canyonlands Field Airport northwest of Moab, killing the pilot and nine employees from Red Canyon Aesthetics and Medical Spa dermatology clinic. Those killed were pilot David White; Dr. Lansing Ellsworth, the clinic director; David Goddard, a medical assistant; Mandy Johnson; Marcie Tillery; Valerie Imlay; Keith Shumway; Dallin Ellsworth; Camie Vigil; and Cecilee Goddard.

The group had flown out to Moab that Friday to provide cancer screening and treatment to local residents.

Two families, the Goddards and Ellsworths, lost two family members each. Father and son Lansing and Dallin Ellsworth died. The Goddards lost David and his eldest daughter, Cecilee. A year after the crash, family members and friends of the victims say their lost loved ones were the "best of the best."

Lansing Ellsworth's widow, who is now LynAnn Imlay, 47, said it helped when patients of her late husband or friends of her son would tell her stories she had never heard — giving her another piece of their lives, even after death.

"One that I didn't know about my son was that once, at a high-school dance, he led a group of kids to leave the dance for a few minutes. It apparently wasn't a good song, so they went outside 'til it was over," she said. "He was a leader like that and had pretty high standards, and like the Pied Piper, took them outside."

He was following in the footsteps of his father to become a doctor, finishing pre-medical requirements at Southern Utah University while working at the clinic. He left behind his wife, Kamber Ellsworth, and unborn son Porter, now 10½ months old.

"He is a happy, loving baby," LynAnn Imlay said. "It's such a blessing. Even though Dallin had all those years of school ahead of them, he thought they should start their family."