Neighbors remember couple killed in Georgia plane crash

MCMINN COUNTY, Tenn. (WDEF) — Neighbors of a McMinn County couple who were killed in a Georgia Plane crash, say they were kind people and they are saddened to hear about their death.

Carl Hicks remembers his neighbor Mary Jo Yarbrough.

“She worked in her garden all of the time. She loved them. Working in her garden. Working flowers,” Hick said.

Yarbrough and her husband Dexter Lee Gresham lived in a home in Etowah.

Officials at the McMinn County Airport say the couple rented a hanger there. They left from the airport a week ago. On Saturday, Yarbrough and Gresham were killed in a plane crash in Murray County, Georgia, along with Yarbrough’s two grandchildren, Austin Day, 10, and Kingsley Wilson,10. Wilson and Day are from Mississippi. Hicks enjoyed having Yarbrough and Gresham as neighbors.

“They were good people.They were hard workers. Had good personalities. Very helpful,” Hicks said.

He’s glad he got to know them.

“You couldn’t ask for a better neighbor,” Hicks said.

Hicks didn’t know what to think when he heard they were killed in the plane crash.

“I was in shock. I couldn’t believe it. It is just something you don’t expect,” he said.

When the couple would go on vacation, Hicks made sure to look after their property.

“I kept an eye on it when they were gone. And they did the same for me. If I was going to be gone. They would keep an eye on my place,” he said.

Whether it is mowing the grass, or helping out. Hicks and other neighbors plan to lend a hand to the couple’s relatives.

“I am going to do whatever it takes to see if they are taken care of,” Hicks said.

Officials at the Corinthian Funeral Home in Mississippi say they are planning the service for the two children. NTSB is still investigating the crash.