TOLEDO, Wash. (AP) -- Friends of the youth pastor who died while trying to help a young and frightened motorist on Interstate-5 earlier this week said he was always trying to help strangers.

Preston Newby, 24, was a dedicated youth pastor, a father, friend and husband.

“It would have surprised me if he didn't (stop to help.) That was the type of guy he was," his widow Tara, told KGW.

Preston had stopped to help an injured 16-year-old girl who hit an elk on I-5 when another driver who was swerving to avoid hitting the elk carcass accidentally struck him. Tara was there, too and ran to her husband after he was hit.

“I just turned and I saw him laying there and I ran in my bare feet. I just held him, singing to him, praying, and then his eyes were closed. It was peaceful,” she said.

Claudia Fisher, the driver who hit Preston, collapsed in agony when she realized what she'd done. Tara reached out to her.

Tara told Fisher, "I don't hate you. I forgive you."

That is how the Newby's lived their lives, according to the head pastor at Lake Bible Church in Lake Oswego, where Preston led the youth congregation.

Pastor Andrews described Preston and Tara as "outstanding people" with much compassion, who were always thinking of others. "It takes a huge person to do that," he said.

Fisher sent a letter to Tara after the crash that said she can't stop replaying the accident in her mind and wondering if there was anything she could have done differently. She said she has not yet been able to forgive herself, even though Tara already forgave her.

 More: Read letter from woman who hit Preston

"She humbly offered me the foregiveness that it will take me a long time to offer myself... She is an angel and all I have wanted is to let her know how sorry I am and to provide her with any comfort that I can."

The crash happened just before midnight Monday, near Toledo, Washington. The 16-year-old driver suffered cuts to her face and was treated at a hospital in Centralia. Fisher was not injured.

Preston and Tara have a young son named Jacob and another baby on the way.

Donations for the Newby family can be sent to Lake Bible Church on Carmen Drive in Lake Oswego.

The church has planned a public memorial service for Preston, which will begin at 2 p.m. Saturday in the gym. Anyone wanting more information can call the church at (503) 699-9840.