'She was tough and fearless': Gettysburg Area students, coach pay tribute to classmate

Gettysburg Area High School softball coach Max Laing had a unique relationship with Faith Nicole Boone. Not only was he her coach and driver's education teacher, but he has known her since she was a baby.

Laing also coached Faith's mother, Ashley (Snyder) Boone, and recalled a time that he held Faith during one of her mother's games. 

Faith, 18, of Gettysburg, was killed in a car crash Friday in Mount Joy Township. 

"I wish I could see her on the softball field again, as a player, as a coach, or perhaps she would have a daughter who would go on to play the game that she shared with her mother. And I wish I could have watched her walk across the stage at graduation," Laing said.

Monday morning, Gettysburg Area High School students took it upon themselves to create a tribute to their classmate.

More: Read Faith Nicole Boone's obituary 

A photo of Faith was displayed with flowers, cards and other donations that will be given to Faith's family.  

Faith was a senior and would have graduated with her class on May 31.

Laing remembers talking to Faith's father, Ronald Boone, at her mother's games. Ronald died in a tragic motorcycle crash when Faith was 4, he said.

Before Laing knew it, he was coaching Faith on his 18U Gettysburg Spirit team when he needed an extra player.

"Faith was this bubbly energetic young lady who was probably all of 12 or 13-years-old who was playing with high school kids. She was tough and fearless, just like her mother," Laing said.

When Faith was a freshman in high school she played mostly on the junior varsity team, but did get to pitch one scoreless varsity inning.

She continued to play, and her senior year Faith became a team captain. 

"Faith's teammates tell me that they remember her smile, her dirty uniform, and that she was always there trying to cheer them up and wanted them to be happy," Laing said.

Gettysburg Area High School Principal Jeremy Lusk said the school is in mourning and Faith will be missed.

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The compassion that they see in students is remarkable, and the school community will continue to keep Faith, her family and her friends in their hearts and in their minds in the coming days and beyond, he said. 

Kaitlin Martin, who was the softball team's captain Faith's junior year, said Faith was so much more to her than a teammate, but a true friend. The two were placed on the same recreational softball team and as the years went by the closer they became.

For Kaitlin's senior night Faith gave her a mason jar that was filled with sand from where Kaitlin played on the field. That jar still sits on Kaitlin's shelf in her room today.

Kaitlin's final memory of Faith was from a few months ago when she went to see her pitch during Faith's last season of her high school softball career.

She heard someone call her name and saw it was Faith and she was running toward Kaitlin with the biggest smile on her face. 

"We hugged each other, and I said, 'Good luck, buddy.' Those were also the last words I would ever say to her in person," Kaitlin said.

"Such a loss affects everyone a little differently, depending upon their relationship with Faith. As we process Faith's passing, we try to remind students that life is fragile and precious," Lusk said. 

Faith was also a student in the Allied Health Program and Adams County Tech Prep.

She had future plans in the health care field, Lusk said.

Funeral services will be 2 p.m. May 24 at Christ Chapel on Gettysburg College campus. Viewing hours will be 4 to 8 p.m. May 23 at the Monahan Funeral Home in Gettysburg and noon to 2 p.m. May 24 at Christ Chapel, according to her obituary.

Faith was pronounced dead on the scene of a two-vehicle crash Friday in Mount Joy Township, according to a Pennsylvania State Police news release.

Her cause of death was deemed multiple blunt force injuries, and her manner of death was accidental, according to Adams County Coroner Pat Felix.

Jeffery Gohr, 19, of Gettysburg was driving a 2012 Chevrolet Malibu west on Speelman Klinger Road with Faith as his passenger.

Gohr entered Hoffman Home Road, without stopping at the stop sign, as Douglas Bayliss, 61, of Littlestown, was driving a 2005 Ford F250 south on Hoffman Home Road, approaching the intersection, police said. 

Gohr's passenger side doors were struck by Bayliss' front bumper, causing Gohr's vehicle to rotate 45 degrees and strike a culvert.

Both vehicles came to rest in a field near the intersection.

Gohr was flown to York Hospital, and Bayliss was transported to Gettysburg Hospital by ambulance. 

According to a GoFundMe page for Gohr, he sustained a serious head injury and body trauma and is currently in a coma.