Kenneth Nemson was on his way to his father's birthday celebration in Ventura late last week when he was killed in a head-on crash on Highway 126 near Santa Paula, relatives said Monday.

On Friday morning, Nemson, 58, had breakfast with his wife, Etha, at their home in Elk Grove. She was supposed to join him for the approximately 380-mile journey, but she didn't feel well, so he told her to go back to bed, she said.

After breakfast, she told him to drive safely, and he headed for Ventura.

An avid cook, Nemson had promised to barbecue steaks for his father's 86th birthday celebration, Etha said. "Barbecue was his specialty. His dad had requested a rib-eye barbecue."

Nemson was driving westbound on Highway 126 about a quarter-mile east of Old Telegraph Road about 4 p.m. Friday when an eastbound pickup truck collided with his sedan, the California Highway Patrol reported.

He was pronounced dead at the scene of the crash, as was the driver of the pickup, Henry Charles Farner, 22, of Fillmore.Both men were alone in their vehicles. Both were wearing seat belts.

The cause of the collision was unknown Friday, but investigators did not believe alcohol played a role, the CHP reported. No updates were available Monday.

Farner, a Louisiana native, had been in Ventura on Friday to register his truck after having lunch with his mother in Camarillo. A student at Moorpark College, he had hoped to become a biology researcher. He moved with his mother and sister to California in 1999 after his father died. He attended Royal High School in Simi Valley and graduated from a Louisiana high school before moving to Fillmore.

An autopsy determined Nemson died from multiple blunt-force chest injuries, said Armando Chavez, a senior deputy Ventura County medical examiner. The force of the collision lacerated Farner's heart.

Nemson grew up in Ventura and attended Ventura High School, where his father, Edward Nemson, once served as principal, his wife said.

Nemson swam and played water polo at Ventura, and went on to play water polo at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, where he met Etha.

They married in 1971 and moved to Northern California, she said. Nemson worked for the North American Baptist Conference. The couple did not have children.

"He was just very gentle in spirit and soul," she said, her voice breaking on the telephone as she called him a "great guy."

Memorial services are planned for 11 a.m. Thursday at Ivy Lawn Cemetery in Ventura and 10 a.m. Friday at the First Baptist Church in Elk Grove.

Farner's sister, Rachel Farner, 21, of Fillmore, said, "He loved looking at things under his microscope." He enjoyed fishing and the outdoors, as well as mixed martial arts, guitar and saxophone, she said. "He was a good guy, and I'm going to miss him. ... He was going places."

His mother, Doni Farner Smith, 51, of Fillmore, said Farner loved school. She said she will miss listening to him play his guitar.

A memorial service is planned for 4 p.m. Thursday at the Reardon Funeral Home in Simi Valley.

The stretch of undivided highway where Nemson and Farner were killed has been the site of numerous crashes.

From 1998 to 2007, 20 people died and 214 were injured on Highway 126 between Santa Paula and Fillmore, according to CHP statistics.

The California Department of Transportation has proposed building a 6.7-mile concrete median along the highway between Santa Paula and Fillmore. If approved by the local communities, the median project would take several years to complete and cost about $19 million, Caltrans spokeswoman Judy Gish said.