He was pedaling through Sardine Canyon Friday afternoon, part of his training regimen for his third Lotoja Race from Logan to Jackson Hole, when he was killed in an automobile collision. The tragic crash also took the lives of a new mother and her 12-day-old baby.

"He loves to ride his bike and that's how he died," said Bennett's 16-year-old daughter, Michelle, Saturday.

The Utah Highway Patrol said Bennett was struck by a northbound Oldsmobile when, according to witness accounts, he steered into traffic while attempting to make a U-turn on U.S. Highway 89/91 near the Cache and Box Elder county line.

The collision caused the Oldsmobile to swerve into oncoming traffic, where it was broadsided by a Chevy pickup, according to UHP. Killed in the crash were Trudy Middleton, 38, of West Valley City and her son, Norrison Deschner. Middleton's husband, Michael Middleton, was driving the Oldsmobile - and was the only one in the car to survive.

The couple were in the process of changing their last names to match that of Michael's birth father - Deschner - and decided to so name their son at birth, said Trudy Middleton's father, David Hanson of Midvale.

The couple have been married for over four years and "had a lot going for them," Hanson said.

"She was a very special person. It's a struggle. At least she had the opportunity to become a mom before she was gone," Hanson said, adding he believes the two are together still.

Cache County sheriff's Sgt. Wyatt Goring described the crash scene as "horrible" and said Michael Middleton, 37, who was treated for shock and released from Logan Regional Hospital, is devastated. The Middleton family was en route to visit Trudy Middleton's brother, his wife, and their newborn son on Friday afternoon.

David and Deloris Hanson had their hands full raising six daughters and one son. They had to go to extremes to control their oldest when she was young.

"We had a rule during mealtime . . . No singing at the table during dinner - because of her [Trudy]," Hanson said.

Although she refrained from crooning at mealtimes, Trudy spent the rest of her life making music.

She attended Ricks College/BYU-Idaho and earned a degree in music. She was a therapist for Granite School District, where she was instrumental in starting up a statewide program to help handicapped through the power of music, Hanson said.

Trudy Middleton was born in Logan while her parents were students at Utah State University and she grew up in Midvale. She took Russian in junior high school, practiced the language while serving an LDS Mission in Finland and worked abroad as a kindergarten teacher in Russia for one year through a BYU program, Hanson said.

Trudy Middleton directed the Russian Community Choir at the Jewish Center in downtown Salt Lake City and was loved equally by the young and old she sang and worked with, her father said.

The Hansons said they have discovered a connection between their family and the Bennetts, through a mutual friend.

"It's a small world," Hanson said, adding that the suffering of both families is immense. "We don't need to point fingers for blame. It was an accident."

The family Bennett leaves behind includes his wife, Karen, 43, and their six daughters. The father enjoyed cheering on his daughters at soccer games and spending time with his family.

"He was amazing at that," said Michelle Bennett. "He did a lot of things with the family."

Bennett and his wife married when she was 18, after he returned from his LDS mission in Ohio.

Although he enjoyed the rugged life - hiking in Zions National Park, hiking, fishing and hunting - Robert Bennett always appreciated the femininity that surrounded him, Michelle Bennett said.

"He loved it," said Michelle Bennett. "He always said he was blessed with so many girls. My mom was a singer and he always said she has the voice of an angel."

Bennett, a graduate of Bountiful High School, earned a bachelor's degree at the University of Utah and served as a first counselor in the bishopric of the 23rd Ward in the Brigham City North Stake. He had bachelor's and doctorate degrees in chemistry and worked as a manager of Propellants, Explosives and Pyrotechnics Research Department at ATK Launch Systems west of Brigham City at the Promontory facility.

"He had a world class, international reputation as a propellant chemist," said Bob Wardle, director of Advanced Materials and Technologies at ATK. "He was a wonderful man to work with for the last 18 years. Everyone around the industry respected him professionally and personally."

Bennett's two oldest daughters are married and expecting sons soon - Emily (Ryan) Cornelison, 24, and Sarah (Isaac) Christensen, 22. The other girls are Nichole, 19, Michelle, 16, Hannah, 14, and Calli Jo, 11.

Bennett's family was shocked by the sudden loss Friday afternoon, but said he instilled in them the tools to survive.

"He always taught us to be good," Michelle Bennett said. "He had a lot of faith and trust in us. He taught us all well."

The funerals for Trudy Middleton and her son will be held at 11 a.m. Wednesday, May 23 at the Tayorsville 43rd Ward in West Valley City.

abrunson@sltrib.com