Family remembers northeastern Colorado couple killed in head-on crash

GREELEY, Colo. — This weekend, a Greeley family will lay their parents to rest after authorities say a teen driver crashed into them head-on. The crash happened on Sep. 15 on Highway 34 near Wiggins. 

Family members identified the two victims as Sandy and Floyd O’Dowd, a well-known couple from Fleming, CO. They ran a mobile tattoo shop that often visited the Greeley area.  

Floyd was 80 years old. His children described him as a storyteller who was caring and kind. 

“Mom was fairly quiet by comparison,” Ezekiel Lira, Sandy and Floyd’s son, said. “She lived for her kids and that was always very evident in all of her actions.” 

Lira cherished his time with his parents and his siblings. While four children lived in the house growing up, the O’Dowd family had plenty of chosen children. 

“They were pretty much open-door policy and kind of once you’re in, you’re family. I think the count was 65 or 66 [siblings],” Lira estimated. “They just never were like, ‘well this is your stepsister, your stepbrother, your half-sister.’ It was just brother and sister because they were always just Mom and Dad.”

Lira described his childhood as adventurous. They’d often take impulsive road trips to camp and see the country. With a life filled with so much unpredictability Lira could have never seen what was coming. 

“It was just like way out of nowhere,” he explained. 

On Sep. 15, the O’Dowd’s were driving down Highway 34 when Colorado State Patrol said a car being driven by an 18-year-old crashed into them head-on. 

Deputies believe that teen driver was trying to pass a group of cars when he shifted lanes. 

The O’Dowd’s died on scene. Their daughter, Angel O’Dowd, survived. 

“I was asleep when the accident happened,” she recalled. “I thought I was still dreaming because I was taking a nap and was like, ‘OK this was a dream’ and then when I woke up again and I was in the hospital I was like, ‘OK maybe I’m not.'” 

Angel O’Dowd was badly hurt, but she was not the only one. Colorado State Patrol said a third car was also involved. That car crashed after the initial incident. Four people in it were taken to the hospital with injuries. 

This family hopes to talk to them some day. 

“Best wishes and reach out if you’d like,” Lira said to those in that third car. “We wish the best in your healing. If you know my parents, or had a chance to know them, they probably would have become your family too.”

Colorado State Patrol said they are still investigating and that charges are pending. The family hopes someone is held accountable. 

“We want justice for our family,” Fantasia Lira said. The O’Dowd’s were also her parents. “We want justice for the other family going through what they’re going through, and we want justice for our little sister.”

The O’Dowd family created a fundraiser to help with medical and funeral costs.