The most beautiful smile he’s ever seen in his entire life.

That’s what Jason Rowntree, an animal science graduate student, will remember about Jody Emens, 22, an animal science senior, who died Tuesday in a car accident.

“She was an extremely sweet person,” Rowntree said. “You just always wanted to be around her.”

Emens lived in Mason with her parents Jeanne and Coe Emens.

She was a member of the MSU national champion Livestock Team, which Rowntree coached, and a member of the MSU Block and Bridle Club.

She also worked actively in the Department of Animal Science, as well as the Swine Research and Teaching Center, and acted as a swine superintendent for the international livestock show.

“Jody was a young woman who had nothing but a bright career ahead of her,” said Gretchen Myers Hill, an animal science professor and Emens’ adviser. “She had a gregarious personality and people were attracted to her.”

Emens was interning in Indiana and was on her way back from a visit home when the accident occurred.

She was also planning to attend graduate school at Oklahoma State University after she graduated in December.

“She was the all-around kid everyone would want their daughter to be,” Hill said. “She is what makes MSU great - she is one of those kids who will be missed by everyone.”

Hill said there will be a fund or scholarship set up in Emens’ name through the Block and Bridle Club.

Jeanne Emens said her daughter was always happy and had a lot of friends.

“She was my beautiful baby,” she said. “She was very loving and caring and fun-loving.”

Animal science Professor Harlan Ritchie said Emens’ death hit the department very hard.

“She was a very upbeat, positive person,” he said. “We are all close to our students, we are just broken up by it.”

Nathalie Trottier, an assistant professor of animal science, knew Emens from a class she had taught this spring.

She said Emens was one of the few students who had an interest in swine and brought different components to nutrition of swine.

“Jody was very helpful in a lot of the research projects we conducted at the swine farm,” she said. “She got along well with everyone and was a real team player.”

Animal science Assistant Professor Matt Doumit had Emens in two of his classes and also knew her from the Block and Bridle Club.

He said she had a positive attitude and would go out of her way to help others.

“You know the type of person who was smiling no matter what was happening?” Doumit said. “That’s the type of person Jody was.”

The family will receive friends and relatives from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. today at the Gorsline-Runciman Co. Ball-Dunn Chapel, 621 S. Jefferson St. in Mason. Funeral services will be held at 11 a.m. Friday at All Saints Lutheran Church, 720 W. South St. in Mason.

Shannon Murphy can be reached at murphy78@msu.edu.