‘She’s my treasure’: Husband, family honor Angela Born after fatal crash

KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WOWK) - A family deeply rooted in their faith is remembering a woman who died in a crash Thursday. Angela Born, 52, was killed when a suspect vehicle in a police pursuit struck her vehicle on I-64 in Putnam County on March 5, causing her car to catch fire. Deputies said they pulled her out and tried to revive her, but Angela - a mother, wife, sister and small business owner - died at the scene. Her family is devastated, but her husband, John, and their six children are surrounded by extended family, coming together in this difficult time. Angela and John are the owners of Country Road House and Berries, a bed and breakfast and a strawberry farm located just off Kittyhawk Road in Clendenin. According to their website, the Borns pride themselves on growing healthy local food and sharing the natural beauty and rich history of the area with their visitors. John and Angela's brother, Keith McFarland, sat down with WOWK 13 News Anchor Amanda Barren to share just how huge Angela's heart and how strong her faith were. "She was one of a kind. Irreplaceable. If you know her, you knew that she loved you and you loved her back cause that's just who she was," Keith said of his sister. "And she was a woman who understood the transformational power of God." Keith says that transformational power comes from the experiences of Angela's own life. "She had experienced it in her own life. She experienced the love of God, grace of God, and she wanted everybody to understand it, to know it, to experience it themselves. And so, she lived out that love that she knew towards others, and she did it beautifully," Keith said. Angela was from St. Albans and went to college at West Virginia Wesleyan. After college, she moved to St. Louis, Missouri, for graduate school and then for work in the pharmaceutical industry. It was there she met South Bend, Indiana, native John Born at church, got to know him at their Bible Study, and eventually married him. "We actually crossed paths at church. We were both freshly baptized, and we didn't know each other at the time, and we crossed paths in a small group Bible Study and formed a friendship," John said. John and Angela would have been married 25 years on Oct. 6, 2026. "She was my best friend. I appreciate what he (Keith) said. You know, she could say tough things, but kind. My wife is kind. Anyone that's met her knows that," John said. John said his wife was a hard worker whose faith ran deep and was visible to anyone who met her. "She just listens to God, like, 'Oh, God told me to do this,' and I'm like, 'Okay,' and she'd go out and do it. And like he (Keith) said, she's like 10 women in just getting stuff done. But then I would look back, and I'm like, 'Oh, wow. She was absolutely listening to God,' because of what took place." Keith says his sister will be remembered for her strong faith and the "burning light" that she was in life through that faith. He says that even through this dark time, he knows their family is not alone. "You know, Jesus talks about John the Baptist in John five, and He says this - that He was 'A burning and shining lamp. And you were willing to rejoice for a while in His light. But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John," Keith said. "And the truth is, Ang is a burning light, and we rejoiced in her light like we did. You loved being around it. You know, we just... she was filled with light. And that light is it's, it's missing, right? Like you can't replace an Angie-sized hole, but the One who's the Giver of Light, the One who's light and love, she reflected. He's with us, right. So we're grieving, but we are grieving with hope, right." The couple settled down in St. Louis and went on to have six children; The older three children are ages 29, 23, and 22, and the younger three are 16-year-old triplets. The family later moved back to Angela's home state, where they opened Country Road House and Berries. John says there is peace in knowing his wife is now with her Lord, but he, his children and everyone who knew and loved Angela are missing her so much. "The hardest part of this: I'm celebrating that she's with her Lord and she would talk about that day... We didn't know that day would be yesterday," John said. "The hard thing for me. Just missing her. Trying to carry all the things that she carries, which is impossible. And then I have six kids that... they're hurting, and that's the hardest thing as a dad. I love Angela. I can't do it in the past tense yet." John says that God has a purpose for their family, and they will continue as she would have wanted. "We are not done with God, and I don't think he's done with us," John said. John and Keith also explained why, in this time of grief, they're choosing to lean on God for healing and comfort, rather than being angry with Him that Angie is gone. "I've read too much about Him, and I've experienced too much of Him," John said. "And so I know that He's good. And I know He allows things. He, He also entered into suffering, right? So if He entered into it, then we know that, you know, it has meaning and that He knows what we're going through, and so I just trust that. I trust that God - God is good and He also allows suffering, and there's reasons that He knows." "He is sovereign over all things," Keith said. "We trust that." "So God is good because He's been so good to me. He has blessed me," John said. Keith explained that it would be easy to get caught up in the senseless tragedy of the entire situation. "Like, this is so stupid. This is so senseless, right? This, this shouldn't have even happened. This could have been prevented. And you just... It's easy to go down that trail. But the truth is, at the end of the day, like life in a fallen world, life in a broken... like, life is fragile, and life is precious. And Angie knew it, and she lived it, right? And she would say, like, celebrate. All right, grieve, but grieve with the hope of Christ, right? " "She's touched a lot of lives. I'm grateful for that. I've had a front row view of her life, and I can attest that she is just the same. From what you see to the way she is in our house," Born said. About two months ago, the entire family was together. John and Keith say that Angie said it was a moment to cherish. "She would often remind us, even when we at last had our, our kids together around the table, she's like, 'I don't know, you know, we don't know if we're ever going to have us all together like this. Let's really enjoy it,' and so really enjoy it when you have that," John said. "Probably when she said that was the last meal we all had together."