Remembering 22-year-old Cynthia Gomez after fatal crash

(ABC 6 News) – 22-year-old Cynthia Gomez of Rochester was killed in a crash earlier this month. Authorities are still investigating the crash.

"Cynthia lives on, she has touched people," Cheryl Ricker said.

Ricker met Gomez through church at Rochester Assembly of God. Gomez asked Ricker to become her ‘Mentor Mom.’

"We miss her incredibly but we’re very at peace knowing that she had chosen Jesus and that her life is safe in his hands," Ricker said.

The church also brought Gomez and Barb Woolison together.

"Such a sweet, sweet little girl. I just loved her so much and she’d always call me grandma," Woolison said.

Woolison and Gomez worked together at Silver Creek Corner in Rochester for almost two years.

Ricker and Woolison’s faith is something that has gotten them both through this tragic loss and they say Gomez’s faith was something new to her before she passed away. She was baptized on Feb. 20, 2022, just two months before she died.

The two of them said they saw Gomez’s faith change after she was baptized.

Gomez was studying to become a nurse because she loved caring for people.

"The things that she did at Silver Creek Corner she just absolutely loved. She was a van driver there," Woolison said.

Gomez would drive tenants to doctor appointments, which is what she was doing that afternoon on Monday, April 11.

"That Monday morning she sent me a text message and she said ‘Hi Barb, I love you and I miss you so much,’ and then that afternoon she died," Woolison said.

Ricker listens to old voice messages from Gomez when she’d talk about her faith.

"I am feeling a lot at peace, especially because I have been spending a lot of time with God and I just honestly I just feel just so like restful," Gomez said in an old message on Ricker’s phone.

Ricker said she is glad she has voice messages like that to listen to again.

"I go back to them and I hear her more alive than ever," she said.

A bracelet keeps her memory alive for Woolison.

"It says ‘Be still and know that I am God. Psalm 46:10.’ And she wore it all the time so I wear it every day in memory of her," Woolison said.

Ricker said she lit up the room when she walked in.

"She had this smile and these dancing eyes and this confidence that was beyond a normal 21/22-year-old," Ricker added.

Gomez’s spirit will live on through others.

"This Cynthia we’re going to remember," Ricker said.

"Always remember," Woolison added.