Esther Hoover and her daughter Mary were headed north Tuesday on Route 272 to Mennonite Central Committee in Akron.

Mary Hoover, 47, was behind the wheel of her mom's old, blue Ford pickup, as was the custom in the family whenever one of the 77-year-old woman's five children traveled with their mother.

The back of the pickup truck was filled with clothing and other items the two were donating to MCC during their lunchtime errand.

Police don't know yet exactly why, but Mrs. Hoover's truck and a tractor-trailer collided head-on on Route 272, at the spot where it meets St. Thomas Road.

The tractor-trailer driver, Thomas Lamonda, 50, of Rosedale, N.Y., was not injured in the crash.

But his rig crushed the blue pickup and, in an instant, the mother and daughter who shared a love for the outdoors died.

The two county women were killed at the same spot where four people were killed in 2004, when a car of high school students collided with a motorcycle.

Police said today they have taken steps to make that area of the road safer, and they don't know if the accidents were just a coincidental fluke or if the causes were related in any way.

"We will definitely look at what else we can do," said Manheim Township Police Sgt. Tom Rudzinski, "but there's nothing that jumps out at us that says there's a problem with this intersection."

The accident ended the lives of two women: a grandmother with a positive outlook on life and a quirky little pet chicken, and a hard-working woman with a teenage son.

"I'm going to miss them," said Bill Bachman, one of Mrs. Hoover's two sons, his voice quiet.

Mrs. Hoover raised five children on her eight-acre Eckman Road farm in West Lampeter Township. She had three children with her first husband, Parke Bachman, who was killed in an car accident more than 50 years ago.

She then remarried John Hoover and had two children with him. He died six years ago, after 42 years of marriage to Mrs. Hoover.

Her pastor at the Lampeter Church of the Brethren, the Rev. John Hostetter, said Mrs. Hoover had some tough times in her life, with losing two husbands. But she was always upbeat.

"She was a pleasant person who was able to continue to enjoy the simple things in life and maintain, through those experiences, a strong faith," he said.

Mrs. Hoover reached out to others, too, taking an elderly church member to the store or on other errands.

Mrs. Hoover loved her life on her farm. She enjoyed raising flowers and became interested in Monarch butterflies, watching with interest as they turned from caterpillar into chrysalis. She collected some of the little sacs, hanging from milkweed plants on her farm, placing them in bug boxes, her son said.

"She wanted to watch them hatch out," said Bachman, a Conestoga Township resident, adding, "I will open them up so they can get out when they hatch."

Mrs. Hoover also had a banty chicken, which her children called "Cutie" but she called "Henny."

"I have never seen a chicken act like that one," Hostetter said. "It was a real pet. If you were there, visiting her, the hen would jump up and sit in her lap, kind of crawl up and snuggle in."

Mrs. Hoover even took Henny with her to visit relatives in West Virginia, her family said.

Mrs. Hoover, who had five grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren, invited others to enjoy nature with her and instilled a love of it in her children.

"We all grew up on a farm," said Martha Colyer, one of Mrs. Hoover's three daughters. "We liked the outdoors and being outside."

So it was with her daughter Mary Hoover, who lived on Hawthorne Drive in Manor Township.

Mary had a 13-year-old son and worked at Kellogg's for 25 years, her family said.

In her spare time, she liked to fish. She also golfed, Colyer said.

"She was a good sister," Colyer said. "I talked to her about a week ago. We were very close. We just checked up on each other, seeing how the other was doing."

Bachman said, "She loved life and she loved my mom very much."

Rudzinski said police are investigating the crash, which happened near a memorial set up for the victims of the 2004 crash.

Police don't know which vehicle went over the center line, Mrs. Hoover's truck or the tractor-trailer, owned by a New York popcorn company.

The circumstances of Tuesday's accident were different than that of the 2004 accident, which happened as a car, occupied by five Manheim Township teens, turned onto Route 272 from St. Thomas Road. Police determined that the motorcyclist who hit the teens' car was responsible for the crash, as he was driving far faster than the posted speed limit of 45 mph.

After the 2004 accident, large signs, warning drivers to slow for stopped traffic, were placed on the road. Residents also were asked to cut back shrubs and trees near where St. Thomas "Ts" into Route 272, for better visibility.

Police also have conducted regular speed checks at that section of road.

But Rudzinski said that area does not have a significant problem with speeding or with accidents — Tuesday's was only the third accident there in 20 months. In comparison, Oregon Road and Route 272 had eight accidents in the same time period.

"It appears that the actions we have taken have made the area safer," he said, "then we have this obviously notable and horrible crash.

"You've got to wonder what else we can do. We will definitely look at that."

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