As Cheryl Sultes-Rose was driving west on North Territorial Road near Dexter Friday night, she apparently saw a large tree seconds before it slammed into her car and killed her.

"Brace yourself. I love you," Sultes-Rose said to her 11-year-old daughter, sitting in the seat behind her.

Her daughter, Eden Rose, who was injured in the 9:30 p.m. accident in Dexter Township, relayed that story to her family members and close friends - words they're taking comfort in now as they mourn her death, said Patty Spangenburgh, Cheryl's best friend for the past 30 years.

Cheryl Sultes-Rose

"It's reassuring to know," Spangenburgh said. "We heard from a driver in front of her who saw it in his rearview mirror that a huge branch just came down out of the sky and went on top of the van."

Washtenaw County sheriff's spokesman Derrick Jackson said police are still investigating the accident. Deputies first thought the tree had already fallen into the roadway when Sultes-Rose's van struck it, but several factors now lead deputies to believe the tree fell just as her van was driving by, Jackson said.

Sultes-Rose, who didn't like thunderstorms, had left a gathering earlier than she planned to on Friday in an attempt to get to her Stockbridge home before the storms got severe, Spangenburgh said.

Sultes-Rose, who had six children ranging in age from 4 to 19 and two stepchildren, was driving a full-sized van, Spangenburgh said. She was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash.

Eden returned home from the hospital Sunday with casts on both legs, a puncture wound in one leg where a branch from the tree pierced it, a broken nose and black eyes, Spangenburgh said.

"Cheryl home-schooled all her children, and they are so well prepared for life," Spangenburgh said. "Her daughter - the only girl - was so composed and handled the emergency so well."

Cheryl and her husband, Brett, operated a small cleaning business based in Stockbridge.

"Cheryl is hard to describe," Spangenburgh said. "Her legacy will really be her friendships. She had friends everywhere. She was funny; she was the only person who could make me laugh. She was a positive person."

Family members have set up a memorial fund to help cover funeral expenses. Sultes-Rose did not have life insurance, Spangenburgh said.

Donations can be made to: Cheryl Marie Sultes-Rose Memorial Fund, PNC Bank (formerly National City), Pinckney branch, 734-878-3123, Samantha Roscoe, bank manager.

A memorial service will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Hartland Consolidated Schools Building (Old Hartland High School), 9525 W. Highland Road, in Howell.