Family remembers Wadena woman hit by car and killed: “It hasn’t quite sunk in”
The investigation into the incident that killed 27-year-old Amber Gorentz is still open
WADENA, Minn. — Saying goodbye was always difficult for Amber Gorentz and her siblings.
“I swear we’d tell each other we loved each other twenty times before we left,” recalls Amber’s brother Ashton Gorentz. “I don’t know how many hugs before we left each time.”
They never anticipated the last hug they shared with Amber would be their final one.
“For all of us, I don’t think that it’s real yet,” says her sister Tasha Gorentz.
Ashton adds, “It hasn’t quite sunk in.”
It was nearly a week ago that Ashton and Tasha lost their sister.
27-year-old Amber had been walking alongside Highway 34 near Dunvilla, Minnesota at around 2 a.m. Tuesday when she was hit by a car and killed.
“From the bottom of my heart, I sincerely hope that it was an accident,” says Tasha.
The investigation is still open, and Amber’s siblings say they hope their inkling about it being an accident is confirmed.
If so, they have a message for the 23-year-old driver.
“If he’d be up for it, I’d like to meet him,” says Tasha. “I don’t want him to live the rest of his life thinking that we blame him for something that was an accident.”
In the midst of a tragedy, a gesture from Amber’s former workplace R.D. Offutt Company is offering a glimmer of joy for her family.
With Amber’s name written on the fender, her favorite work truck was used to haul in the last load completing harvest for the season.
“It just kind of means the world that they’re willing to honor and support her,” smiles Tasha.
Soon, the truck will have Amber’s photo airbrushed on it and will be reserved for female drivers only.
“She wasn’t afraid to tackle anything,” Tasha says. “She would get in any truck, she would drive any tractor. Any job they needed done, that’s what she would do. She would go wherever she was needed and she wasn’t scared of it. She would just take it on and she would be happy to do it, and that’s just the kind of person she was with everything.”
Her family says they hope the way Amber lived her life as a fearless, compassionate and caring young woman reminds people to live theirs the same way.
Amber leaves behind a 9-year-old son.
To support the Gorentz family, you can donate to their GoFundMe page by clicking here.
You can also drop a check off at VISIONbank at 3000 25th Street South in Fargo. Checks must specifically be made out to “THE FAMILY OF AMBER GORENTZ” to be accepted.
Memorial t-shirts honoring Amber are being sold for $20. You can buy one by contacting Tasha on Facebook: Tasha Rae Gorentz.
