Former Havre judge, granddaughter die in plane crash in Utah

Editor’s note: This version corrects the spelling of Elise Lowrance.

Former Havre City Judge Virginia Seigel and her granddaughter, Elise Lowrance, 6, died Thursday when the plane Seigel was flying en route to a Father's Day event in California crashed in the Deseret Peak Wilderness in Utah.

Alexandra Seigel, daughter of Virginia Seigel and mother of Elise, said she found out for certain Sunday.

"It's been really hard," she said. "I'm trying to keep going for the rest of my kids."

She said the family of her husband, James Lowrance, are in town helping take care of their other children, Emily, 8, Amber, 4, and Ezra, 3.

She said her mother was taking Elise to California as a Father's Day surprise for Elise's great-grandfather.

"She really wanted to meet him," Seigel said.

She said the two were probably some of the best people she ever met.

"They were really full of life," Seigel said, "very vibrant people. They loved to play outside, they loved to kayak and swim and go to the park.

"Everything that kids like, my mom liked, too," she added.

She said Elise loved to bicycle - "She named her bike Ocean," she added.

And both loved music, with Virginia Seigel playing guitar and Elise playing the piano.

Alex Seigel said she was sick the week before the two left for California, and Elise would play on the piano, trying to make her feel better.

"They both really loved people," she said "They were always trying to make people laugh, to take care of people."

The crash also started a fire at the crash site. Utah officials report the Morgan Canyon Fire, now at 157 acres, was caused by the crash.

Virginia Seigel was elected city judge in 2013 after starting as the administrator for the Hill County Justice Court in 2010.

Seigel announced her retirement in November 2018, effective in January 2021, to take a position with U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

Seigel was a military veteran, having served in the U.S. Army for 14 years, 10 years as a helicopter pilot and four in the military special forces. While serving in the military Seigel flew in the United States, Germany, Iraq and Korea.  

Federal Aviations Administration lists that Seigel had a commercial pilot certificate and instrument qualifications for helicopters and had private privileges for a single engine land airplane like her 1966 Cessna Piper 28-21490 she was flying Thursday.