Portage Parents To Five Kids Mourned At Service

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Saturday would have been a bustling day of little league games for Amy and Pete Jackson.

But instead, hundreds of their friends and family members gathered to remember the popular little league coach and her husband.

CBS 2's Dorothy Tucker was there and talked to their loved ones.

With the Templar Order Motorcycle Club leading the funeral procession, the body of club member Pete Jackson and the ashes of his wife Amy followed in the hearse winding through the Portage Little League complex.

"Just to see everyone come together for this family knowing what tragedy it was," said family friend Jeremy Biella.

Tragedy struck last Wednesday when the couple, parents to five children ages four to 18, were on a date night. That's  when a drunk driver collided into their motorcycle at the intersection of Willowcreek Road and U.S. 20 in Portage.

Anthony Davis just happened to driving by, saw the crash and snapped a photo.

"It was a horrible scene," Davis said. "In a split second the guy hit the bike."

The next day Davis learned the victims were his friends.

"It was very heartbreaking," he said. "She was a big part of this little league field."

A huge part. Amy's picture hangs outside the field where she had coached T-Ball the last two years.

"She was in it for the kids. It wasn't about just a game. It was the kids," said Biella.

It wasn't just little league and T-Ball players who turned out. Amy's reputation was far reaching. Lining the streets,\ players, parents, friends, family and strangers. Nearly 400 from across Northwest Indiana.

Chris Archer was in the procession. He's Amy's brother.

"It was overwhelming," he said. "It was hard for me to look at everybody without  tearing up."

He will now take on the task of raising four of the couple's children. One of Pete's daughter's from a prior marriage will live with her mother.

"We're going to do our best to support them and help them have the best life and never forget their mom and dad," Archer said.

Cleon Stutler Jr. also of Portage is facing several charges in connection with the couple's deaths. Stutler has a history of drunk driving and convicted of operating while intoxicated in 2010 and 2015.