A Grand Rapids, Michigan couple were two of the three people killed in the chain-reaction crash on I-94 Thursday.
Thomas Wolma, 67, was pronounced dead at a local hospital and his 65-year-old wife, Marilyn, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Authorities say the couple was traveling home from Wisconsin after caring for a relative.
Marilyn Wolma was a third-grade teacher who retired in 2008, but continued to fill in as a substitute teacher, according to WOOD-TV in Grand Rapids.
"In one way I feel empty just knowing she will never grace us with her presence in these halls again," fellow teacher Bernice Wisnieski said. "It's a loss for us, it's a loss for the children, but at the same time she gave so much to the children, she gave so much to us that we are so much better off having known her." Friday morning.
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Tom Wolma was also retired after a career working as an engineer.
The couple spent much of their time traveling together.
"I knew that they were traveling back, and when I saw the accident unfold on the news and saw the truck and the cranes trying to remove and that there was a Grand Rapids couple, I didn't think anything of it," Wisnieski said.
But Wisnieski says her devoutly religious friends are in better place.
The couple leaves behind three grown sons and two grandchildren.
