Jesus and Alma Remo were the type of people who would drop everything to help others without expecting anything in return.
They were community-minded, willing to give a hand at any time and loving parents to their three teenage children, according to those who knew them.
The Melton South mother, 39, and father, 43, were killed in a head-on collision between their Mazda 4WD and a truck on Hopkins Road, Truganina, last Thursday.
Two others, including the couple’s 19-year-old daughter Jessa, were taken to hospital.
Jessa yesterday remained in a stable condition at the Royal Melbourne Hospital.
Pastor Michael De Los Reyes, of the World of Life Christian Church at Rockbank, where the Remos were active parishioners, remembered the couple as community-spirited and very welcoming.
“Jess – that was his nickname – and Alma were pretty much committed to their Christian life and they’re a really wholesome family,” Mr De Los Reyes said.
“Whenever you asked Jess for a favour – to fix your car for example – he wouldn’t hesitate to help out without getting paid.”
Mr De Los Reyes said the Remos’ deaths were a tragedy for everyone who knew them, including the wider Filipino and World of Life Church communities, where they were well regarded. News of their death came as a huge shock to the church, Mr De Los Reyes said, with the fellowship “gutted” by the tragedy.
The Filipino community and the church are in contact with the couple’s children, who have no other family in Australia.
“We’ve arranged some of our volunteers to have a meeting with the children to see what the church can help them out with,” Mr De Los Reyes said. “They’re left without their parents. It’s unbelievable. My heart goes out to them.
“We’re supporting them and praying for them.”
Detective Sergeant Mark Amos, of the police’s major collision investigation unit, said two trucks, both carrying trailers, and three four-wheel-drives had been involved in a string of collisions, which culminated in the fatal head-on crash.
Truck drivers said the road conditions on Thursday morning were particularly dangerous after overnight rain followed days of heat.
VicRoads data shows that in the five years to 2012, there were 28 crashes, including one fatal, along the busy Hopkins Road.
Police are calling on any witnesses to Thursday’s crash to call 1800 333 000.
