But all Sharon Barger could do now was wait — wait for the Smiths’ children to arrive at the neat home on Birchwood Drive to make funeral arrangements for their parents. Sharon and Dane Barger lost their friends in a split second Friday night — when another truck spun out of control in a blinding rain storm on Faith Road.

“It hasn’t hit me yet,” Barger said. “I’ve known Jim 30-something years. My husband, Dane, grew up with Jim, and I’ve known Jim as long as I’ve known my husband.”

And the Bargers have known Mary Smith ever since she married Jim more than 20 years ago. Sharon Barger last talked to Mary Smith on Wednesday night.

Jim Smith and Dane Barger were golfing buddies. Jim just played in a golf tournament in Morganton this week. Called to the Smith home by the Highway Patrol, Sharon Barger noticed the first-place trophy Jim Smith’s team won in the tournament.

And that triggered more memories. “My husband is a salesman, so you know he has to play golf,” she said. “Jim was a good golfer, a real good golfer.”

The couple had four children from their previous marriages. Jim’s daughter, Nicole, lives in Rockwell, but she was at the beach last night. This morning, she was making a sad trip home.

Mary had three children, Becky and twins Keith and Kelly Greene. Becky lives in Wilmington and Kelly in Florida. Keith Greene lives in Kannapolis, Sharon Barger said. The twins were members of the wrestling team at South Rowan High, she says.

Neighbors said the Smiths moved into the Birchwood neighborhood, off Pop Basinger Road east of Faith, some two or three years ago. They lived in a neat home with gray siding, red shutters and a red brick front porch. Hanging flower baskets decorate the front porch, and Jim Smith’s sales samples sit next to the steps in the carport.

Jim Smith worked for Weyerhaeuser as a market development manager in manufactured housing. Mary Smith worked at Protex sports products in Salisbury, Sharon Barger said.