Community pulls together over family's loss.

Byline: Rebecca Nolan The Register-Guard

COTTAGE GROVE - The outpouring of love and support that followed a traffic crash that killed 24-year-old Saul Urenda and injured six other members of the well-known Urenda family two weeks ago has awed many who have witnessed it.

The local community, particularly Lane County's growing Latino population, has come forward to help the family with money, food, transportation and emotional support.

"I've marveled over the last several weeks at how generous you have been," the Rev. Mark Bachmeier told the hundreds of people gathered for Saul Urenda's funeral Friday at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Cottage Grove.

"The caring, wisdom and compassion you've shown clearly comes from some place deep down inside, a place where God put those things," he said.

Bachmeier alternated between English and Spanish as friends and family wiped away tears. Many wore black or white T-shirts printed with the young man's photo and the words "RIP Saul Urenda." Pallbearers and ushers wore yellow flowers pinned to their chests.

Urenda was one of seven occupants in a 1999 Chevrolet Suburban that was headed south on Interstate 5 about 1:40 a.m. Aug. 27 when it collided near the Saginaw exit with a 2006 Ford Taurus that had crossed the center median and was going the wrong way.

Urenda was pronounced dead at the scene. His parents, two brothers and two sisters were all taken to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Eugene.

The last of the injured Urenda family members was released from the hospital Thursday. The driver of the other car, 40-year-old Bryan Lewis of Commerce, Texas, remained in critical condition Friday.

Saul Urenda's parents, David and Teresa Urenda, ages 46 and 40; his 19-year-old brother, David Jr.; and 20-year-old sister, Blanca, all attended the funeral in wheelchairs due to leg injuries they suffered.

The injuries will prevent David and Teresa Urenda from returning to work for at least several weeks. David Urenda works at Springfield Lumber Products and his wife owns La Pinata, a shop in Creswell that sells traditional Mexican goods. The Urendas and many of their relatives hail from Las Zarquillas in the Mexican state of Michoacan.

It was through the store and an extensive family network that the Urendas became so well known in the Latino community, Ana Maria Dudley of Cottage Grove said.

Teresa Urenda helps organize and decorate traditional weddings and quincaneras, the celebration of a girl's 15th birthday and her entry into womanhood. She has met many people through her work and now they are helping her and her family, Dudley said.

"I think what you see here is, when you plant a seed and it blossoms and you see the fruit," Dudley said. "This is her fruit."

Dudley and Lesly Canales, also of Cottage Grove, spoke on behalf of the family Friday when they thanked the community for its generosity and caring.

Canales said people are delivering food to the Urendas and their extended family, visiting from out of town. A water pipe broke at the family home while the parents were hospitalized and someone fixed it for free.

Their washer-dryer broke and someone contributed a new one. A pastor at the church donated a new refrigerator. Others have donated money to a fund set up in the family's name at US Bank. Still others have contributed gift cards from local supermarkets.

Teresa Urenda's nephews have taken over the Creswell shop to keep La Pinata open while the family recovers.

"The Latino community is so close that what happens to one happens to all," Father Stephen Ryan, pastor at Our Lady, said.

Dudley agreed.

"Somehow you are all connected," she said. "It's a web. Even the last string of the web is connected to the center."