Editor's note: This story was originally published on April 27, 2017. Chris Soules, former star of "The Bachelor," will be sentenced Tuesday in the April 24, 2017, crash that killed Kenny Mosher.

AURORA, Ia. — Almost immediately after something out of the ordinary occurs in Aurora, a tacit, unwritten phone tree kicks into gear. Neighbors call neighbors and friends text friends to ensure everyone’s well-being and begin the process of separating rumor from fact.

At just after 8 p.m. Monday night, the calls started in force in Aurora, but information trickled in like a slow drip from a leaky faucet. Something had happened on Slater Avenue. A crash. A tractor was involved. Someone died. Chris Soules, the former “Bachelor,” was driving the other vehicle. He left the scene. He’s been arrested.

► RECENT COVERAGE: Iowa 'Bachelor' Chris Soules pleads guilty to leaving the scene of an accident

► Judge denies 'Bachelor' star Chris Soules' request to delay sentencing in fatal 2017 crash

► Lawyers: Former 'Bachelor' Chris Soules performed CPR on dying driver

The town didn’t find out that one of their own — Kenneth Mosher, 66 — died in the tractor-truck crash until the next day. And the shock of a generally healthy man lost so suddenly was almost palpable, townspeople said. Barely enough time went by for them to process what had happened before national entertainment media began descending on the town of about 185 in rural northeast Iowa.

In the handful of days since the crash, Soules has been charged with leaving the scene of a deadly crash, a Class D felony, but the investigation into exactly what happened is still ongoing.

► UPDATE: Chris Soules to be sentenced on May 21, 2019

A native son of Aurora, Mosher was very well-liked, according to the town’s mayor, David Young. He’d been raised in a farmhouse on the outskirts of town, and he’d moved back into that same house when his parents retired to Florida. Outside of a tour in Vietnam with the U.S. Army, Mosher spent his whole life with his high school sweetheart, Nancy, in Iowa’s northeast corner.

“He was a wonderful person,” said his neighbor Phyllis Lentz, also a longtime resident of Aurora. “He was what all good Christian farmers should be: really humble and hardworking. It’s just so sad when you lose the good people, you know.”

Mosher’s friends and neighbors called him a generally quiet guy who was devoted to his family. They also said that he was very private and would not have enjoyed this sort of spotlight.

In that vein, the family has asked for privacy as they grieve, declining to discuss their lost loved one with the media. One of Mosher’s sons told the Register that whatever we heard in town about his dad would be similar to what they would say about their father. A funeral is planned for Monday in nearby Oelwein.

► MORE DETAILS: Chris Soules released from jail following fatal crash

► 'Sad deal all around': Chris Soules' Iowa hometown reacts to fatal crash

On the eve of Aurora’s annual Smelt Fry, a fundraiser that benefits the local American Legion and draws people from all over rural northeast Iowa, the townspeople are trying to pick up the pieces, Lentz said. Like many other small Iowa towns, Aurora is a place where “neighbor” is a job taken seriously, one where you are almost expected reach out and offer help in whatever form you can, Lentz said.

“But we are just reeling and hurting,” Lentz said. “This has touched a lot of people here.”

Her husband, Laverne, sitting across from her at their kitchen table, quickly added: “When you lose a person in a town of 180, you notice. You miss them, and Kenny will be sorely missed.”

'It's going to be hard'

It’s hard for people in Aurora to talk about Mosher without talking about his wife, Nancy, because they were always together. And they pretty much always have been.

“I remember (Kenny and Nancy) sitting together on the school bus when we used to ride to school,” said Young, who was five grades younger than the Moshers. The pair married in 1970, raised two boys and loved being grandparents to three grandchildren.

Mosher was a member of the Legion and the Community Club, and he’d gladly help out whenever asked, many said. But he wasn’t one to take the leadership role on local boards.

“He was more a quiet kind of guy,” Young said. “He was always around and watched what everyone else was up to, you know.”

► MORE DETAILS: Soules made 911 call from fatal crash scene

► RELATED: Chris Soules' real life in rural Iowa

Mosher loved working his farm and Nancy worked right alongside him, Young said. Mosher had been a farmer his whole life but had also worked in Oelwein at the Donaldson factory, which produced parts for air conditioners, until it closed in 1999. Nancy had been a secretary at an insurance company in town until she retired about three years ago, said Margie Lau, a family friend.

Mosher would stop in at the grain elevator, Young said, to ask about the markets and talk crops. Mosher’s youngest son, Matt, had recently started to work with his dad on the farm on a more regular basis. One of Mosher’s grandsons had taken an interest in farming, too, and the family patriarch had taught him the finer points of picking up rocks not too long ago, said Lynda Lau, owner of the local beauty parlor, Silver Scissors, who is no relation to Margie.

Outside of farming, Mosher loved to golf, many said. After he’d planted and before harvest, he did a lot of golfing, and when he went to visit his mother in Florida, he’d golf there, too.

“I think he was kind of looking for a place to eventually retire down there," Young said.

The Lentzes went over to see the Moshers on Tuesday evening. Phyllis Lentz said Nancy was in as much shock as everyone in town. It was like she was trying to accept the loss, she said, to come to terms with it.

“It’s going to be hard for her,” Lynda Lau said.

It’s not an uncommon occurrence for wives who lost their husbands to seek comfort in the hairdresser’s chair, she said.

“Over the years I have learned to just let them talk,” she said. “Whether they are sad or angry or lost, I tell them it’s OK to be all of those things while they are here with me.”

'I will be there for you'

Despite its size, Aurora is an active community, locals said.

There's an engaged American Legion membership, Phyllis Lentz said. There's also a historical museum and a community center that features a gym, a kitchen, a workout room and the local library. Most of those were built and continue to be maintained by local funds and volunteers, Young said.

“We’ve banded together over the years,” Phyllis Lentz said. “When you are a close-knit, small town in the country, you have to.”

That “band” extends past fundraising to generally watching out for one another. With boards for the historical museum, the community center and the Legion, not to mention the volunteer fire department and city council, just about the only organization Aurora doesn’t have is a neighborhood watch. But that is everyone’s job, Phyllis Lentz said.

“As people have been coming in over the last few days, I have been explaining that we have neighbors here in town who farm side by side or work together or whatever,” said Janette VandeVoorde, who works alongside Lau. “It might not be that way everywhere, but when you need something around here, you call a neighbor.

"And maybe you don’t talk to your neighbors all the time,” she continued. “Maybe you don’t have a deep connection, maybe it’s just a wave, but that was a connection all itself. One that says, 'You know, I will be there for you.'”

'That's just what we do'

In this part of Iowa, many people know Soules and his family. The town of Aurora is only about 12 miles from Soules’ hometown of Arlington.

Some townspeople in Aurora are reserving judgment about what happened. They want to know all the facts first.

“You don’t understand everything about a person or a situation until you walk in their shoes,” Phyllis Lentz said. “Now, we just have to wait until we know everything about what happened.”

“But (Soules) should have stayed,” Laverne added.

The town isn’t planning a memorial service for Mosher, but Young said that many people in town have already reached out in their own way.

Margie Lau is going to wait just a bit longer to offer condolences, she said.

“All the news has said that the family is asking for privacy, so in two or three weeks, I will reach out,” she said. “When it is quiet, that’s when she is going to need it.”

As the sun fell below the horizon Wednesday, the Lentzes' phone rang. Young called to say some farmers in the area were starting to form a group to help Nancy plant the acres Mosher hadn’t finished. Rain is in the forecast for the next few days, so they plan to let the family grieve before offering their help, but they want to be ready.

Laverne agreed immediately.

“That’s just what we do,” he said.

The phone tree had already kicked into gear again.

Case update: Chris Soules retains new attorneys

Reality TV star Chris Soules retained Alfredo Parrish, Brandon Brown and Gina Messamer of the firm Parrish Kruidenier to represent him, according to a statement issued by the attorneys Thursday.

"Brown recognized the heightened level of interest because of Soules’ celebrity status, but asked that members of the public do not prejudge this case based on media coverage," the statement read.