Condolences, Donations Pour In for Orphaned Children

The five young children of Timothy and Tammy Wilson, orphaned in an Ontario traffic accident, may not grasp the value of their steadily swelling trust fund. But they will surely understand the love in the notes their classmates wrote them Friday.

“I’m sorry your mom and dad died,” one letter writer wrote.

“We miss you,” said another.

“Come visit us,” urged a third.

And from a first-grade playmate who saw Taryn Wilson’s school supplies amid the twisted metal of the family van: “I saw your lunch box on TV.”

As cards, flowers and donations for the children poured in Friday, California Highway Patrol officers continued their investigation. Timothy and Tammy Wilson were killed Thursday morning while driving to Timothy’s accounting job when a trailer loaded with firewood flipped over and crushed the front seat of their van on 4th Street near the San Bernardino Freeway offramp.

Tammy Wilson, who had just celebrated her 36th birthday, was pregnant with their sixth child. She had been planning to tell her relatives the good news at a Mother’s Day party this weekend.

Tim Jr., Tamira, Taryn, Trina and Traci Wilson--ages 2 to 10--will now be brought up by their paternal grandparents, who live in Lakewood.

The phone rang with condolence calls Friday as the children played at their grandparents’ and looked after one another, as they always have.

“Whether it’s a scrape or a cut or a bruise, they’ve always taken care of each other,” said their uncle, Mark Wilson. “They’re doing OK. . . . They’ll make it.”

Wilson said he had been receiving calls all day from people offering money, clothes, food, prayers and sympathy. He had expected help from church members and old friends. But he was swamped with donations from strangers too--including parents who know the children’s grandfather as a volunteer school crossing guard.

The accident has prompted many gestures of support.

Mourners brought flowers to the crash site. Parents dropped off checks at schools. In Rancho Cucamonga, where Timothy Wilson served on the school board, children emptied their piggy banks and donated their hoarded pennies.

California Federal Bank in Upland opened a trust fund with a donation from SMDS Trucking, the firm involved in the crash.

SMDS employees took calls pledging donations until 10 p.m. Thursday, and the phones started ringing again early Friday. “Everybody’s hearts go out to the family,” office manager Jean Dunham said.

Wilson said he and his relatives are relying on their religious beliefs to give them strength as they care for the children while coming to terms with their own grief. “It’ll hit all of us,” he said, “but we have the Lord to lean on. We’ll be fine.”

He also thanked the community, saying the comfort of calls and donations has been “a tremendous help.”

Funeral services for Timothy and Tammy Wilson will take place at 11 a.m. Wednesday at the Life Center Assemblies of God Church, 6022 Candlewood St. in Lakewood. Burial will follow at Forest Lawn in Cypress. The viewing will be Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Forest Lawn.

Donations may be sent to the trust fund at California Federal Bank, 160 W. Foothill Blvd., Upland CA 91786.