Wednesday”s accident involving a United Cerebral Palsy of Greater Sacramento bus was the first fatality the organization has had in its 56 years of existence.

The head-on collision involving the organization”s bus and a Ford F250 at County Roads 102 and 27 killed two people, including Woodlander and truck driver Jeffery Richard Rivas and UCP driver assistant Sara Rae McKee Johnson-Moss.

Johnson had been with UCP for about 1 1/2 years, according to Steve Horton, UCP director of development and marketing.

Part of Johnson-Moss”s job was to make sure all passengers were fastened into the bus and safe. Eight other people were injured on the bus, including driver Luz Torres.

Initial reports said all passengers were in wheelchairs but Horton said three were in wheelchairs and the rest were ambulatory. Wheelchairs were fastened in the bus and seatbelts were used for those who could walk.

Horton said part of the California Highway Patrol”s investigation was whether Johnson was wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash.

As the investigation continues into the collision, funeral plans for Johnson-Moss are under way with a service at 2 p.m. Tuesday at Woodland”s Family Worship Center, 386 W. Beamer St.

Johnson was well liked by her fellow staff and clients, Horton said.

“She was one of those people that won everybody”s heart,” he said.

Johnson was a 1995 graduate of Woodland High School and was attending Woodland Community College to attain her registered nursing degree. She had lived in Davis for the last 13 years with her husband, William Moss, and daughters, Christina and Zoe.

Charles Vincent McDonald, Rivas” neighbor on North Street, remembers him as a hard worker.

“I”d see him leave two to three times a day at all hours to go to different sites,” McDonald said Friday. “As neighbors here on North Street, he was a good man and I”m sorry to see the suddenness that life can end for us all. It strikes home whenever that sort of thing happens.”

McDonald recalled seeing Rivas, a construction worker, leave his home in his Ford around 2 p.m. Wednesday.

“I was reminded about how short life is, as we have been told by our parents and grandparents. The story speaks for itself,” he said. “It should speak to all of us. Just like in the Bible, we”re not promised our next breath, either in the morning or on the way to work.”

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