SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - It's been one year since the Springfield community lost two public leaders.

On Jan. 28, 2020, Frank and Cinda Edwards tragically passed away in a plane crash.

Cinda served as the Sangamon County Coroner for nearly ten years, and Frank was a past mayor of the Capitol City.

Jim Allmon took Cinda's place as Sangamon County Coroner after Cinda passed, but to Allmon, she wasn't just a coworker, but also a friend.

"A lot of times I ended up spending more time with her than my own family," Allmon said. "In this job, it's not eight to four Monday through Friday."

Allmon said he remembers exactly where he was when he got the news.

"I was next door, in what used to be my office, and I had got a phone call from Sangamon County dispatch, and they told me there was a plane that went down," Allmon said. " I had just talked to Cinda. I knew she was flying home at that time. It didn't take me long to put two and two together."

As for Jack Campbell, Sangamon County sheriff and friend to the Edwards family, he said the day of the crash is one he'll never forget.

"I was in my office, and I got a call from our dispatch center and who they thought was on board," Campbell said. "(Cinda and Frank) were so infectious with their smiles and their laughter. It was easy to get to know them."

Campbell had shared a friendship with Edwards for nearly ten years.

"I probably met them in the late 2000's," Campbell said. "I had (started)  attending political events, and that's where I started running into the both of them."

Allmon had worked side-by-side with Cinda for almost a decade, and he said the staff works to keep her memory alive at the coroner's office.

"We have a big picture of her up in our office," Allmon said. "We've got a lot of different stuff up around the office that was hers."

According to Allmon, the impact the Edwards left on the community and how they served the public will never be forgotten.

"I don't think there's any better way we can honor a public servant, than to serve the public," Allmon said.