Regina Owens hardly had her granddaughter Rachel, who had lived with her for five years, on her mind when she went to bed Friday night.

“She was staying the night in Champaign so I wasn’t worried about her. For whatever reason she decided to come home that night,” Owens said.

The reason is irrelevant. What happened next overshadowed such reasons and changed Owens’ life forever.

Rachel was in a car accident sometime around 2:30 in the morning. Rachel was taken to the hospital immediately. But nearly six hours later, she was officially pronounced dead.

“I can’t even begin to describe how I felt,” Owens said. “No words can describe it.”

With tragedy comes triumph, however, and those involved had nothing but nice things to say about the late Rachel Owens.

“When she worked at Checkers in Mattoon she always had the longest line because everybody wanted to check-out with her,” Owens said. Her personality won them all over.

“She had a beautiful smile that lit up the room when she entered,” Owens said.

“She, from the little time I got to spend with her, showed me that she is an amazing person. She was stronger than she realized, I think,” Lindsey Fletcher, junior psychology major who had Science of Religion and Psychology with Rachel. “If I’d had more time with her, I think we would have been close. I know that she will be missed. I will miss her. But how could anyone forget a smile like that?”

Rachel was also a very successful student, receiving a bachelor’s degree in psychology in August.

Professor Marjorie Hanft-Martone who had Rachel for more than one class, described her as a “very genuine person.”

“She had a great sense of humor and self-irony,” Hanft-Martone said.

One of those classes was Introduction to Group Dynamics. A picture of Rachel’s group is still sitting directly next to Hanft-Martone’s computer.

In the picture, Rachel is standing front and center, displaying a vibrant and, most of all, genuine smile.

Hanft-Martone still keeps in touch with the other members in Rachel’s group.

Professor John Best had Rachel for a statistics class and described her as an “open, friendly, and warm person” who was always “full of life and vitality.”

“She had a natural empathy that made her a very relaxed person,” Best said.

Best noted that every time she came to class, she started a conversation with him by saying something like “that’s a nice tie.”

Best also described how much more active the classroom was because of her.

“She really tried to make a difference. She brought other people together which made the class more fun,” Best said.

Owens said Rachel intended to go back to Eastern for her master’s degree in January. In terms of her plans after college, Owens said she wanted to work with children whether it was counseling or teaching.

“She loved children,” Owens said.

Rachel was also loved by her six cats.

“She loved any animal. Any stray that she found was given a home and food,” Owens said.

Owens said the cats will remain in the household but some “no one can touch” because they miss Rachel so much.

Funeral services will begin at 1:30 p.m., today at the Schilling Funeral Home. Burial will follow at the Dodge Grove Cemetery.