NEW RICHMOND, Ohio — "My family don't have enough words to thank the community," Ray Seng, whose 17-year-old son Tyler was killed in a motorcycle crash, said Tuesday. "It's been overwhelming."
New Richmond Exempted Village School District canceled all classes Tuesday to allow students and staff members to pay respects to Tyler and the Seng family, the district said in a Facebook post.
"It's very tough," Tyler's friend, Heather DeRose, said. "He was like a little brother to me. I pretty much grew up around him and his family."
On November 25, Tyler was killed riding a motorcycle near the intersection of Laurel Lindale Road and Carnes Road when he collided with an SUV.
"I was actually at work and I got a call from one of our customers saying that a motorcycle accident happened, and there's only a select few around here that ride motorcycles," DeRose said.
The village of New Richmond turned out to show support for Tyler's family on Tuesday.
"Mind-blowing," Ray Seng said. "Overwhelming. I think he is up there looking down and he can see how many people really loved him."
Ray said more than 1,000 people came together to remember his son.
"He was goofy, definitely a jokester of the family, jokester of the school," Seng said.
Tyler's memorial service was held at the New Richmond High School gymnasium, where three generations of his family went to school. The funeral service followed the visitation.
"When we went to the graveyard, I'm obviously one of the first ones there behind the hearse. Just seeing probably a hundred cars or better show up just allows us to see what kind of kid Tyler was only not in our eyes, but in our community," Ray Seng said. "It's amazing. Just amazing."
Tyler's family had another unique way to let friends say goodbye. They allowed hundreds of community members to sign his casket.
