MOSCOW $ A community mourned the loss of one of its own Tuesday, filling Trinity Baptist Church and it's fellowship hall downstairs remembering "a lovely lady," Faith Angela McKenzie, of Bingham.

"The house of the Lord is in heaven, and that's where she is," Trinity Pastor Louis Turner told a gathering that spilled out onto the church grounds.

Cars and trucks filled both sides of busy U.S. Route 201, a road that McKenzie took every day and a road on which she was killed September 26 in an automobile accident.

Her family members remembered McKenzie as a woman who worked hard to keep the family together at the holidays and planned well for dinners and get-togethers.

She was loving, giving, patient and kind, they said.

McKenzie, 38, who ran a children's day care in her home for 15 years, is survived by her three school-age children, her husband and many family members in the area.

Schools closed at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, sporting events were postponed and the scheduled school board meeting Tuesday night was canceled.

The Bingham Town Office also was closed Tuesday afternoon.

McKenzie's husband Joey is a member of the School Administrative District 13 board, covering Bingham and Moscow.

"She always had time for us," Joey McKenzie said. "We have so many memories of her and they are all awesome."

Joey McKenzie recalled stories of his late wife that brought a smile to the faces in attendance, but the smiles simply masked the extreme sadness of the day.

"Faith was more than my spouse," he said. "She was my soul mate. She was my best friend."