Saturday services scheduled for Arkansas sisters killed in accident

Services will be held Saturday for two Arkansas sisters killed in a three-vehicle accident December 26 in Pineville. Information about the accident can be found at this link. The obituary is provided by Rollins Funeral Home. In the photo, Katelyn Box is a the far left and Bethany Boxx is upper right.

Bethany Joy Boxx, age 20, and Katelyn Marie Boxx, age 16, both of Bentonville, passed from this life on Dec. 26, 2013.

Bethany was born Nov. 2, 1993, in Kansas City, Mo., and Katie was born Oct. 19, 1997, in Overland Park, Kan., both to David and Janet Boxx.

Bethany was a 2011 graduate of the International Bacheloriate Program through Bentonville High School, and was a sophomore at the University of Central Arkansas (UCA) where she was a biology major, with a minor in gender studies. She worked at the Dairy Queen in Bella Vista during high school and, while at UCA, she worked in campus food service. She enjoyed spending time with her friends, and especially her long-term boyfriend, Alex Nilsson.

Katie was a sophomore at Bentonville High School. She enjoyed writing and telling stories, and will be remembered for her joyful nature and her ever-present smile. She suffered from a rare neurological disorder called ARSACS - and upon learning of her condition, her response was "It just makes me special." She was always the optimist and woke up with a smile each day.

Bethany and Katie were both members of First Baptist Church in Rogers.

Survivors include their parents, David and Janet Boxx, and a sister, Gracen Victoria Boxx, all of the home. They are also survived by their paternal grandparents, Richard and Donna Boxx of Lee's Summit, Mo.; maternal grandfather, Dwight Coon of Kansas City, Mo.; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

They were preceded in death by a brother, Bradley Cole Boxx; and their maternal grandmother, Ardis Coon.

Visitation will be 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. on Saturday, Jan. 4, 2014, at First Baptist Church, 3364 W. Pleasant Grove Road, in Rogers, with the funeral service beginning at 11:00 a.m. Burial will follow in Pinnacle Memorial Gardens.

Memorials, in lieu of flowers, should be made to the ARSACS Foundation, online at www.arsacs.com.

Arrangements are by Rollins Funeral Home of Rogers. Online condolences may be made at www.rollinsfuneral.com.

Surviving Arkansas sister recovering in Joplin hospital, leg shattered in accident that killed her sisters

Eighteen-year-old Gracen Boxx, Bentonville, Ark., was taken off a ventilator at Freeman West Hospital in Joplin Saturday, two days after both of her sisters were killed in a three-vehicle accident in Pineville.

Miss Boxx suffered a shattered right leg in the accident and remains in the intensive care unit, a family member said.

Planning for funeral arrangements for Bethany Boxx, 20, and Katelyn Boxx, 16, may begin later today (Monday).

According to the Missouri Highway Patrol report, the McDonald County Coroner B. J. Goodwin pronounced the Boxx sisters dead at the scene.  The father, David Boxx, 51, who was driving, suffered moderate injuries and was taken by ambulance to Mercy Hospital in Rogers, Ark. His wife, Janet Boxx, 50, had minor injuries and was also taken to Mercy Hospital. Another passenger, O'Rane Williams, 21, Conway, Ark., suffered moderate injuries and was airlifted to Mercy Hospital, Springfield.

The accident occurred when a northbound Dodge Ram truck driven by Troy Robins, 19, Pineville, changed lanes in front of Roger Wilson, 47, Muldrow, Okla.. The Wilson vehicle, a 2013 Chevrolet 2500, hit the Robins vehicle in the rear, causing him to cross the center of the road and hit the Boxx vehicle, a 2000 Toyota Sienna van on the driver's side, knocking the van off the road and causing it to overturn.

Neither Robins nor Wilson was hospitalized.

Original Turner Report story on accident