By Rebecca Goodman
The Cincinnati Enquirer

A funeral service will be held Saturday for Melissa Tollefson Rogers and her four children - one week after all five died when their minivan was swept off Interstate 35 near Emporia, Kan.

A resident of suburban Kansas City, Mrs. Rogers was 33.

She was born in St. Joseph, Mo., in 1970 and grew up in Horton, Kan., where she was a graduate of Horton High School. She received an associate's degree in interior design from West Valley College in San Jose, Calif.

She married Robert Rogers, a Cincinnati native and 1984 graduate of St. Xavier High School, in 1991.

Mrs. Rogers was a devout Christian and conscientious mother to Makenah, 8; Zachary, 5; Nicholas, 3; and Alenah, 21 months.

She was active in the PTA, the Down Syndrome Guild of Greater Kansas City and Children's Hope International.

At her church - the Northland Abundant Life Worship Center - she was an assistant Bible quiz coach.

She also home-schooled Makenah, who was born Aug. 13, 1995, in Redwood City, Calif.

The family was driving home from a wedding Saturday when a creek flooded. Their van became pinned between other vehicles and a concrete barrier and began filling up with water. Mrs. Rogers prayed and sang Bible songs to comfort the screaming children.

When the barrier gave way, the van was washed off the road and swept into a culvert. It was found Sunday on its top with Zachary, Nicholas and Alenah still strapped into their car seats.

In addition to her husband, survivors include her mother and stepfather, Elizabeth and Tom Mathewson of Hiawatha, Kan.; her father and stepmother, Jere and Judy Tollefson of Horton, Kan.; her father-in-law and mother-in-law, George and Mary Frances Rogers of Florence; two brothers, Robbie Tollefson of Omaha, Neb., and Matt Tollefson of Hiawatha; and paternal grandmother Clara Tollefson of Horton.

The funeral is 11 a.m. Saturday at the Northland Abundant Life Worship Center, 7700 N. Church Road, Kansas City, Mo. Burial will be at Glenridge Cemetery in Liberty, Mo.

Memorials: Children's Hope International, 3100 NE 83rd St., Suite 1400, Kansas City, MO. 64119; Down Syndrome Guild of Greater Kansas City, 10000 W. 75th Street, Shawnee Mission, KN 66204 or Children Mercy Hospital, 2401 Gillham Road, Kansas City, MO. 64108.

The Associated Press contributed. E-mail rgoodman@enquirer.com