Family recalls fateful day of fatal accident

Casey Hollaway spent his last day on Earth in service.

Driving south through Colorado on July 23, he pointed out barns and interesting buildings to his adopted daughter, Misha Riley.

His wife Saphronia Holloway was in the back seat, reading aloud from a chronicle of their recent days on the road.

The three had just eaten lunch, pulled over near a small cemetery. There wasn't a good spot at the drive-in for their Chevrolet Tahoe and the second car they hauled on a trailer.

Casey drove up from Melrose the night before, arriving about 11 p.m. to the mountain campsite where Misha and Saphronia's car had quit working. The two were en route back from a trip up through Utah and Colorado to the north rim of the Grand Canyon.

"His faith was the only thing more important to him than his family," Casey's brother-in-law Daryl Martin said. "He was so proud of his family and his eyes would just sparkle when he talked about them. He always took time out of his life with his daughters, teaching them Bible, fishing and of course zip-lining."

Misha, who met the Hollaways as a middle school student in the church youth ministry they led at the time, said the trip was a combination birthday and college graduation gift.

She said Casey had specifically recommended the route, which brought her and Saphronia to National Park campgrounds, the Four Corners and inspiring views along the way.

"My and Misha's thing was just, 'Do you feel small yet?'," Saphronia said. "The Grand Canyon was just overwhelming...I texted (Casey) and said 'I can't wait to see this with you and the girls,' and he was just eating it up. He just couldn't wait to hear and get the next picture."

So when his wife called him on July 22, Casey was quick to answer.

She said they tried to troubleshoot the car problems over the phone, even consulting a mechanic, but soon determined there was nothing else to be done.

"He said 'OK, I'm going to get a trailer and I'm going to come your way'," she said. "Bless his heart. He was so concerned about it. He said 'I feel so bad...You just let me be your driver. Wherever you want to go...You just enjoy your last day.'"

Casey knew a thing or two about helping in a tight spot. As a volunteer firefighter for Melrose, he had been on scene for his share of wrecks and took safety precautions for his passengers.

"Casey's thing was 'Don't ever put your feet on the dash, because if something happens ...'," Misha said Wednesday. "So he pointed that out (July 23) and then I'm sitting cross legged."

If not for that recommendation Misha might not have come out of the wreck that afternoon, when a northbound car collided head-on with the Tahoe police said was in its southbound lane.

According to Colorado State Patrol, the collision occurred around 1:20 p.m. on Colorado Highway 17, five miles north of Moffat. The driver of a Nissan Armada and three passengers, including two children in car seats, were hospitalized along with Misha and Saphronia following the accident.

Casey Hollaway, 43, died at the scene.

"I didn't ever lose consciousness," Misha said. "My legs were still crossed and I had my hands over my ears. I opened my eyes and saw the airbag coming and we were spinning. So I just closed my eyes."

When Misha opened her eyes again she had spun in her seat, still wearing her seatbelt, and was facing the passenger window.

"I see (Casey and Saphronia) and they're both unconscious. And so I unbuckle and (Saphronia) starts to wake up. I remember her talking to Casey, and I could see his face and I could hear him," Misha said. "At that point I just grabbed his shoulder, his big massive shoulder, and I'm shaking him, telling him to wake up."

"The last thing I remember is reading and telling (Casey) about the Grand Canyon. I don't have the notebook. It's in the Tahoe. What I know is that at the end I was just so overwhelmed, I wrote, 'My God is so big, so strong and so mighty. There is nothing my God cannot do. Thank you, thank you, thank you'," Saphronia said. "I promise you that's the last thing I read."

"And then — I don't remember a noise, I don't remember a bang or a jolt. I remember thinking, 'I fell asleep. How did I fall asleep? I wasn't even sleepy..." she continued. "Everything was blurry and this weight was on me...then I look out and there's people, almost like in a movie where they don't have the sound but you can see that they're yelling."

The people on scene included responding officers as well as residents of the immediate area. Saphronia recalled a woman named Brittany, "sweet and calm," who prayed with her and then fished her phone out of the Tahoe to call Casey's sister, Dedra.

Dedra and her husband had just come out of church when they received the call. About five hours later, Casey's father and siblings were in Colorado, arriving just as Saphronia and Misha were being released from the hospital in Alamosa, a 40-minute ambulance ride from the collision site.

Both women have bumps and scrapes from the accident. Saphronia is healing from a fracture in her L1 vertebra and Misha wears a sling for a fracture in her left elbow.

Saphronia said the driver of the Nissan was badly injured and flown from Alamosa to Colorado Springs.

• • •

For Casey, the day had started with an indulgence into one of his most cherished past times: fishing.

Early that morning, Casey woke up before Misha and Saphronia and caught a rainbow trout. He released the fish and came back to camp with a blurry picture on his phone, excited to share the news with his family.

"Was there anything Casey did not like to fish for?" asked Pastor Durward Wofford, speaking at a Celebration of Life Service July 28 at Melrose First Baptist, where Casey was a Deacon and life-long member.

Wofford recalled Casey's many hobbies and skills — as a family man and a friend, an electrician in the wind energy industry, a dove-hunter, a dutch-oven cook and a craftsman.

On a belt buckle he made after taking a class in Portales, Casey inscribed the Bible verse Matthew 4:19: "Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men," Wofford said.

"In my mind and in my heart there is only one way that Casey could be the man that he was in front of us. And that was because of Jesus." Wofford added. "He tried to live his life for Christ in front of you."

"This is the gift Casey had: he always put other people before himself," said Daryl Martin. "He would give the shirt off his back or the last of his food and never think twice about it."

Wofford said the service honoring Casey last month was probably the largest such event he had seen in 17 years with the church.

"It was standing room only in the sanctuary and the basement was completely full," he said. "I'm guessing a little over 500 (attended), and for a community of 700 we had a pretty good percentage."

Besides support from Colorado's victim services program, the Hollaways said the community has been tremendously helpful with the family's immediate needs. Church friends and volunteers helped to make sure Casey and Saphronia's daughters Renise and Zona (ages 11 and 8, respectively) had everything they need for the county fair this month and for returning to school.

"What I'll tell you about (Casey) is that he was a hands-on father. That man was not afraid to do anything," Saphronia said. "He wasn't afraid to fail. Because if he didn't get it right he was going to make sure he got it right...That's what he taught his daughters. Always don't quit. You find a way. You don't give up. You never give up."