LaFall McBride was only 15 years old when she died, but her dad summed up her short life Saturday, saying she was "an amazing child ... an amazing teenager."
McBride was a passenger in a car driven by her aunt in Glen Hope Borough, Clearfield County, late Friday afternoon.
The car in which she was riding collided with a box truck, and the youngster was killed.
Clearfield County Coroner Michael Morris said McBride died of blunt force trauma.
Her aunt, Katie A. McBride, 30, of Smoke Run, Clearfield County, was injured and was flown to Altoona Regional with what state police in Clearfield called "critical injuries."
Three other children in the McBride 1997 Toyota Corolla, ages 1, 4 and 9, were also hospitalized.
The 1- and 4-year-olds were taken to Altoona Regional "as a precaution," police said.
The 9-year-old was flown to Memorial Medical Center, Johnstown, for treatment.
Police said that the McBride vehicle, at 3:24 p.m. Friday, was traveling south on Route 729 while a box truck driven by Robert R. McConnell, 50, of Duncansville was heading south on Route 53.
McConnell's truck collided with the driver's side door of McBride's vehicle.
Trooper Matthew Peacock reported that Katie and LaFall McBride were not wearing seat belts. The younger children were in child restraints, and the 9-year-old was wearing a seat belt.
McConnell was not injured.
LaFall's father, Charles Myers, was mourning with the girl's mother, Patricia Sue High of Philipsburg, on Saturday.
He told a story of how LaFall, who was living with her aunt, wanted her parents to get back together and reconcile their differences, and her efforts were successful.
"She wanted mom and dad to start talking, to come to an agreement so we could all be a family," Myers said. "She pushed the two of us together."
Not long ago, Myers said, he and his daughter were talking about her future. She liked the sciences and history. "She had planned on probably going to college," he said.
Myers said his daughter was amazing, but he also said she was a teenager all the way. She liked texting, but he wasn't so sure she had a boyfriend, noting that in a recent Facebook message, she said, "Ugh, boys."
LaFall is survived by four bothers and sisters, he said.
Myers never realized how popular his daughter was until Friday night when the family's home phone didn't stop ringing, and Facebook carried message after message from those mourning her passing.
John Dibert, the principal of Moshannon Valley Junior-Senior High School knew LaFall and said she was a junior high school cheerleader.
"She is a very nice kid, pleasant. She was a kid who always kind of had a smile. She was a really nice kid who was involved in good stuff," he said.
Dibert said the death of the young student will be felt by Moshannon Valley students, noting that a recent graduate of the school drowned this summer.
Former Mo Valley football player Dylan Keith drowned in a pond near Allemansville on July 7.
"It's going to be tough on the kids," said Dibert.
He and Moshannon Valley School Superintendent Tonya DeVecchis-Kerr said that plans for grief counseling at the school will be discussed Monday.
"Our thoughts and prayers certainly go out to the family. The loss of a young life is such a tragedy," said Devecchis-Kerr as she reacted to LaFall's death.
Mirror Staff Writer Phil Ray is at 946-7468.
