Dancer, singer, sister, mother, fun-loving and devoted to her church are how family and friends described Folsom’s Kathy Wood who died in a solo-vehicle car crash June 19.

“Family was the most important thing to my mother aside from her relationship with God,” said eldest son Daniel Wood. “She was above all a mother and a wife.”

Kathy and her husband Kent Wood, who was seriously injured in the crash, were traveling westbound on Highway 50 around midnight when, for unknown reasons, the vehicle flipped, killing Kathy.

“We all are dealing with it, for the most part we’ve been doing great,” Daniel Wood said. “We have the head of our family, our father a man of great faith, (to) console and strengthen us and give us hope. We have a strong conviction that we are going to see our mother again.”

Kathy Wood, who was born in Oakland in 1957, was an active member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Her husband is president of the Folsom Stake and oversees nine congregations in the Folsom and El Dorado Hills area.

The couple married in 1976 at the LDS Temple in Oakland. The couple, along with their six children, participated in several humanitarian missions to Peru, Tonga and Mexico, providing service, goods and assistance to needy families and communities.

“Kathy Wood’s life exemplified love and service to her family, friends, neighbors and nation,”

said friend and fellow church member Dan

Nethercott. “Her energy and vision was felt from musical productions to civic programs.”

She enjoyed hiking, camping, snow and water skiing, horseback riding, running and singing.

“She had a beautiful singing voice and sang regularly at local church meetings,” said friend Lisa West.

Long-time friend Paige Edmonson spent many mornings walking with Kathy.

“On our walks we talked about everything from politics to children to the Old Testament and other scripture we were studying,” Edmonson said. “I was never blessed to have a biological sister, but I could not have been closer to a sister than I was to Kathy.”

Kathy Wood graduated from Brigham Young University in 1979 with a bachelor’s degree in music and taught voice lessons until the time of her death.

Her strength, beauty and vitality for life are what many will remember.

“She was one of those people that would have been easy to be intimated by because of her beauty talents and all that she did,” said Zona Cannavo. “I am so grateful I did not let that stand in the way. I would have missed out in knowing one of the greatest, amazing best friends ever.”

Kathy is survived by her six children. Elisabeth, 32, is a musician and lives in Berlin. Daniel, 30, is studying neuroscience in Canada. Sean, 28, is a singer-songwriter and lives in New York. Eric, 25, is a pre-law student at Utah Valley University. Jason, 23, recently enlisted with the Marines. Christina, 18, recently graduated from Folsom High School.

Memorial services are set for 11 a.m., July 27, at the Mormon Center at Temple Hill, 2100 California Circle in Rancho Cordova.

Kent Wood has spent more than a month hospitalized and recovering from multiple internal and external injuries. He was expected to be released from the hospital over the weekend and is expected to attend his wife’s memorial service.