By Donna M. Perry,Staff Writer
The death of a college student in a car crash shocks friends in her hometown.

JAY – Jay High School field hockey players sat in the gymnasium Monday morning, still in shock, as they talked about the loss of their friend and mentor Heather Johnson.

Johnson, 19, of Jay, died instantly Sunday morning after the sports utility vehicle she was riding in went off Route 202 near Ramsdell Road in Gray and struck a large pine tree on the passenger side, Cumberland County Sheriff’s Capt. Bill Rhoades said Monday.

The driver of the vehicle, Andrew Morong, 19, of Bath, was injured and taken to Maine Medical Center in Portland, Rhoades said. The accident remains under investigation, he said.

Johnson was working at Migis Lodge, a resort on Sebago Lake in South Casco, this summer, he said.

She was getting ready to start her second year of college next week.

On Monday, her former classmates and school officials remembered Johnson for her bright personality, willingness to help and her consideration of others.

Jay seniors Tiffany Couture, Jenna Farrington, Jessica LaBrecque and Ashlee Brooks said Monday that it’s been difficult to get on the field hockey field to practice because everything reminds them of Johnson.

“Today was the worst,” Brooks said. The others agreed.

Johnson played on the field hockey and basketball teams before she graduated in 2004 and, at times, wore a brace on her knee that made noise.

They remembered that familiar noise Monday, as well as Johnson being “outgoing,” “happy-go-lucky” and someone who “loved sports and helping kids.” She was also remembered for being the best bargain shopper and the best dancer in the locker room during basketball season.

“You could never miss her laugh and her smile,” Farrington said.

It was distinctive: loud but cheerful, Brooks said.

“Whenever you hear her laugh, it makes you laugh, too,” LaBrecque said.

“It’s so shocking,” Brooks said. “It gives me the shivers. I have them now. We never thought it would happen to her.”

Johnson, an honor student all four years of high school and a Top 10 student in the 2004 Jay High graduating class, would have been a sophomore at the University of Maine in Orono this fall, where she was studying architecture.

Johnson taught Farrington how to play her fullback position on the field hockey team.

“She was so encouraging,” Farrington said.

The teenagers said Johnson used to do their hair.

“She told me she was going to turn me into a mini-her,” LaBrecque said. “She was like a big sister to us. We all looked up to her.”

There are so many memories, Brooks said.

The team plans to dedicate their field hockey season to Johnson.

They’re thinking of other ways to honor the young woman, including seeing if they can wear an adaption to their uniforms such as an armband, and retire her jersey.

School office secretaries Corinne Beisaw and Pam Bergeron, and education technician Janet Benedetto remembered Johnson on Monday as “being special” and always volunteering and doing what was asked in a timely fashion – with a smile.

“I didn’t know anyone who didn’t love Heather,” Bergeron said.

“There aren’t enough adjectives to describe Heather,” recently retired school Principal Peter Brown said.

“She was caring. She was fun-loving. She was serious. She had goals and aspirations, but most of all she was Heather,” Brown said. “I can remember her coming and knocking on my door and saying, You got a second?’ and another time, Can we talk for a minute?’ and another time, she came in and sat down and said, We have to talk.'”

As a student, Johnson was the “chairperson for the mission and expectations for student learning” committee on the school accreditation committee, Brown said.

She helped developed the school’s mission as “a community of learning, which provides all learners a quality education in a positive, safe and nurturing environment.”

Johnson’s “greatest love was her younger sister, Samantha,” Brown said.

“Heather was just a special girl,” he said. “She’ll never be forgotten for the person that she was. Just coming into the high school office, she lighted the place up with her enthusiasm and seriousness.”