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GLIDE — For the past 18 months while recuperating from a work-related back injury, David West had a set routine.
He’d wake up in the morning and while his wife, Nikki, made breakfast for their two young children, West would take a shower.
Then he’d drive his children, Erika, 7, and Zachary, 6, the half-mile to Glide Elementary School, where they were in the second and first grade, respectively.
On the way home, he’d stop and buy two cups of coffee. Then, he and Nikki would sit and sip coffee and talk.
“This past year and a half, we spent every day together. It was a real blessing,” said Nikki West on Monday, one day before the couple’s eighth wedding anniversary.
Now, when the kids return to class in the morning following the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Nikki West will have to take over getting them to school herself. Her 29-year-old husband was killed early Saturday in an accident in which two of his friends were injured.
West, Kyle Anderson, 30, and Aaron Gilbert, 27, were in a 2000 Honda Accord that went out of control when the driver attempted to pass another vehicle two miles east of Glide on Highway 138 East at about 12:45 a.m., police said.
West was killed after the car went off the road in a forested area and struck several trees. All three men, who weren’t wearing seat belts, were thrown from the car, according to a report from the Oregon State Police.
Initially, police were not sure who was driving the car at the time of the wreck. Because of the holiday today, no one was available at the Roseburg OSP office to provide an update.
Anderson was treated Saturday and released from Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, spokeswoman Kathleen Nickel said.
Gilbert was listed in good condition this morning at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland, a hospital spokeswoman said. His condition was upgraded after he had originally been listed Saturday in serious condition.
Anderson’s mother, Sandy Anderson, said she had spoken to Gilbert’s parents and they told her their son had shown improvement after having surgery on both of his arms.
All three men had grown up in Glide and had been friends for many years, Sandy Anderson said. West and Anderson graduated together from Glide High School in 1994, she said.
West, a journeyman ironworker and member of Union Local 29, worked on a variety of projects throughout the state of Oregon. He helped with the expansion of Roseburg High School, the remodeling of Autzen Stadium in Eugene, along with construction of new water treatment plants in Florence and Newport, among others, his wife said.
Nikki West said her husband — who she has known since she was 16 and he was 15 — was doing better and had looked forward to returning to work. She could see his improvement because he had started giving Erika rides on his shoulders.
“He’d give her shoulder rides back to bed. It seems she’d wake up several times during the night just so she could get a shoulder ride,” Nikki West said.
Sandy Anderson said she noticed the same devotion.
“He was a great family man,” she said. “Any free time he spent with his children. You could see the interaction between them was very close.”
Services are pending. Nikki West said she was still working to set a date, but plans on having the services at the Glide Community Center.
Her husband is survived by his father, Mike West of Glide, and his mother, Beth West.
A trust has been set up for Erika and Zachary at Umpqua Bank. In lieu of flowers, she asks that donations be made to that account.
• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@newsreview.info.
He’d wake up in the morning and while his wife, Nikki, made breakfast for their two young children, West would take a shower.
Then he’d drive his children, Erika, 7, and Zachary, 6, the half-mile to Glide Elementary School, where they were in the second and first grade, respectively.
On the way home, he’d stop and buy two cups of coffee. Then, he and Nikki would sit and sip coffee and talk.
“This past year and a half, we spent every day together. It was a real blessing,” said Nikki West on Monday, one day before the couple’s eighth wedding anniversary.
Now, when the kids return to class in the morning following the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, Nikki West will have to take over getting them to school herself. Her 29-year-old husband was killed early Saturday in an accident in which two of his friends were injured.
West, Kyle Anderson, 30, and Aaron Gilbert, 27, were in a 2000 Honda Accord that went out of control when the driver attempted to pass another vehicle two miles east of Glide on Highway 138 East at about 12:45 a.m., police said.
West was killed after the car went off the road in a forested area and struck several trees. All three men, who weren’t wearing seat belts, were thrown from the car, according to a report from the Oregon State Police.
Initially, police were not sure who was driving the car at the time of the wreck. Because of the holiday today, no one was available at the Roseburg OSP office to provide an update.
Anderson was treated Saturday and released from Mercy Medical Center in Roseburg, spokeswoman Kathleen Nickel said.
Gilbert was listed in good condition this morning at Oregon Health & Science University Hospital in Portland, a hospital spokeswoman said. His condition was upgraded after he had originally been listed Saturday in serious condition.
Anderson’s mother, Sandy Anderson, said she had spoken to Gilbert’s parents and they told her their son had shown improvement after having surgery on both of his arms.
All three men had grown up in Glide and had been friends for many years, Sandy Anderson said. West and Anderson graduated together from Glide High School in 1994, she said.
West, a journeyman ironworker and member of Union Local 29, worked on a variety of projects throughout the state of Oregon. He helped with the expansion of Roseburg High School, the remodeling of Autzen Stadium in Eugene, along with construction of new water treatment plants in Florence and Newport, among others, his wife said.
Nikki West said her husband — who she has known since she was 16 and he was 15 — was doing better and had looked forward to returning to work. She could see his improvement because he had started giving Erika rides on his shoulders.
“He’d give her shoulder rides back to bed. It seems she’d wake up several times during the night just so she could get a shoulder ride,” Nikki West said.
Sandy Anderson said she noticed the same devotion.
“He was a great family man,” she said. “Any free time he spent with his children. You could see the interaction between them was very close.”
Services are pending. Nikki West said she was still working to set a date, but plans on having the services at the Glide Community Center.
Her husband is survived by his father, Mike West of Glide, and his mother, Beth West.
A trust has been set up for Erika and Zachary at Umpqua Bank. In lieu of flowers, she asks that donations be made to that account.
• You can reach reporter John Sowell at 957-4209 or by e-mail at jsowell@newsreview.info.
