GRAEME J. PRESTON, 12, of FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP

May our Lord Bless the Preston family with Grace, Peace and Strength
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GRAEME J. PRESTON, 12, of FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP, died Monday, March 3, at Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune. He was born out of love, lived with love, and died giving love. Graeme, a 7th grade student at the Dwight D. Eisenhower School in Freehold Township, was an avid school and club soccer player, snowboarder, and skateboarder.
He was the loving child of Scott and Anne Preston and the devoted younger brother of Jessica and Paige. He is also survived by his grandparents, Lester A. and Patricia Gail McGackin Preston and Lois J. Fecsko; his aunts and uncles, Lester and Debra Preston Jr., Cathleen and Bruce Areman, Lisa and Ken LeMunyon, Patrick and Karen Preston, Stephanie and Jimmy Richmond, Marie and Jack Mogilski, Beth and Jim Taylor, John and Barbara Fecsko, Joe and Alice Fecsko, and Michael and Casey Fecsko; and his cousins, Kylie, Maggie, Allison, Matthew, Paige, Samantha, Jake, Kelsey, Jack, Kate, Kelly, Sarah, Olivia, Sean, Shea, Matt, Brett, Kyle, Jimmy, Scott, Emily, Joe, Chris, Thomas, Grace, Quinn, and Riley. In addition, his love extended beyond his immediate family to numerous generations of aunts, uncles, and cousins, not to mention the countless number of friends whose lives were touched by his generous love. He will be sorely missed by his loving dog, Jade. The grace of Graeme will live on in our hearts forever.

Visiting hours will be from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday at the Higgins Memorial Home, 20 Center St., Freehold. The Funeral Liturgy will be celebrated at 11:30 a.m. Thursday at St. Rose of Lima Chapel, Freehold, followed by the interment at St. Rose of Lima Cemetery, Freehold. Memorial donations to the Graeme Preston Foundation For Life Foundation, c/o Lester A. Preston Jr., 151 Broadway, Freehold, NJ 07728, would be appreciated.

Tragedy took the lives of 2 selfless young pals

Article in Star Ledger BY MARK MUELLER

For the last three years, Kevin Clawson made it his mission to help care for his father, terminally ill with heart disease and the victim of two strokes.

The 13-year-old Freehold Township boy gave his dad back rubs and pep talks, staying by his side when David Clawson felt too weak to rise.

Through part of that time, the teen had his own support system in 12-year-old Graeme Preston, a classmate, fellow skateboarding buff and all-around good friend.

"Kevin's been having a hard time because his dad's been so ill, and Graeme wanted to be his support," said Kevin's mother, Jane Clawson. "Graeme told him he would always be there for him."

Yesterday, the community was mourning both boys, who were hit by a minivan at dusk Wednesday as they returned home from a friend's house.

Kevin, who celebrated his 13th birthday on Sunday, was killed instantly. Graeme died Thursday afternoon. Both were seventh-graders at Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School.

Jane Clawson, who is friends with the Preston family, said Graeme donated his organs, a gesture she called in keeping with the boy's eagerness to help others.

"Kevin would have been proud of Graeme," she said.

The accident happened just after 6 p.m. Wednesday on Bar Harbor Road, a residential street less than a mile from the Clawson home on Koenig Lane, where Graeme's mother, Anne Preston, waited to pick him up.

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Freehold: Service is held for Graeme Preston & Kevin Clawson

In much of this community, residents are still trying to absorb the sudden deaths of two middle school students after a Wednesday night accident on a shadowy patch of a residential street.

Some described feeling a dull numbness that follows a deep and personal loss.

A packed church service; grief counselors at Dwight D. Eisenhower Middle School, which the two boys attended; and the wistful remembrance of friends were among the outward manifestations of the community's grief. The transient nature of life was underscored by two families, each preparing to bury a child, young boys killed in what the police have termed a tragic accident.

Graeme Preston, 12, and Kevin Clawson, 13, each died of injuries they suffered when a minivan driven by Frederick C. Eckhardt, 84, of Freehold struck them as they were skateboarding Wednesday along Bar Harbor Road.

Both boys were remembered by classmates and their families on Friday, many of whom did not want to give their names.

Others spoke of the grief the deaths have added to a community that has been buffeted by other roadway deaths, notably the three Freehold High School students and the school van driver killed on Jan. 10, 2007, in a horrific crash on Kozloski Road.

Karen Spahn, whose daughter attends Eisenhower Middle School, said that many have expressed shock and sadness at the boys' deaths.

"My daughter told me they'd call Graeme "the shaggy dog,' because of his long hair," she said. "She said he was one of the friendliest kids in the school, always smiling."

On Thursday, an overflow crowd attended a prayer service for the boys at St. Rose of Lima Church on McLean Street in Freehold, said Sharon Erkman, who works at the church's religious education office.

The church holds 650 people, but the crowd that showed up exceeded its capacity, she said.

The police and the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office have attributed the deaths to a combination of two boys skateboarding in a darkened section of the road while wearing dark clothing. No charges are expected to be filed, police said.

The boys' deaths drew strong reactions, evident from postings to the Asbury Park Press' Web site. In some cases, the opinions were the product of misinformation or rumor, often at odds with what investigators said they had found.

For example, speed and alcohol were not factors in the crash, according to Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin.

Traffic officers continued to take statements from witnesses, even as they tried to tamp down many of the rumors that have circulated about the incident, police Capt. James Lasky said.

One such rumor was that Graeme was still alive, although critically injured.

Monmouth County First Assistant Prosecutor Peter E. Warshaw addressed that issue with the following statement:

"Graeme Preston was pronounced dead (Thursday) afternoon at 3:30 p.m. A death certificate was signed and he is clinically and legally dead."

Warshaw said medical privacy laws precluded him from making any further comment.

Sue McGough, the superintendent of parks and recreation for the township, said she also had fond memories of both boys, adding that they had both been very active in the township's recreation programs.

McGough also addressed questions about the availability of safe skateboarding venues.

Skateboard enthusiasts have long called for increased hours at skate parks as one way of avoiding incidents where skateboarders are hurt or killed on streets.

But McGough said she's not sure whether adding more parks or extending hours at existing ones would make a difference.

Freehold Township has its own skate park in the Michael J. Tighe Park on Georgia Road. It gets a lot of use, McGough said, but not as much as the streets seem to.

The park was not open Wednesday. It is usually closed from December until March because of limited use in cold weather and to allow for maintenance, McGough said.

Sometimes, when the temperature rises above 40 degrees, the township will open it during the months it's normally closed, but that often depends on whether an attendant is available, she said.

"On any given day, I might see 100 kids at the skate park," McGough said. "But as I drive around town, I see kids skateboarding all over the place. The kids tell us they like using the street, jumping the curbs and rails. Parks are not a 100 percent solution."

That preference for the streets worries the police, who say that skateboarders who suddenly dart into traffic face the danger of death or serious injury.

"Kids often can't judge how fast a car is coming at them," said police Lt. Dean Smith, who commands the township's traffic bureau. "They also don't realize how hard it is for people to see them at night when they're wearing dark clothing."

Safety gear is another issue.

At the skate park, kids are required to wear helmets and knee and elbow pads, McGough said. On the street, she said, many don't.

The police said that only one of the boys killed on Bar Harbor Road had a helmet. It was found at the accident scene, Lasky said. Investigators did not know which boy was wearing it, or even if it was being worn.

But to those remembering Graeme and Kevin, those are issues for another day. Their thoughts were elsewhere, on issues of life and death.

"It's kind of hard to concentrate today," said Roberta Santilli, 13.

On Bar Harbor Road, a memorial marks the spot where two young lives ended. A handmade sign reads "Forever in our hearts," followed by signatures of the boys' friends.

A Heavy heart: Two boys struck by van while skateboarding

With sadness and heavy hearts, our thoughts and prayers go out to the Grame Preston(age12) and Kevin Clawson(age13) families. May the Lord bless them with peace and strength during at this time.
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FREEHOLD TOWNSHIP — A combination of dark clothing, a shadowy area between two streetlights and a pair of skateboarders who were "significantly into the roadway" were factors in the traffic accident that led to the two township boys' deaths, police said Thursday.

Graeme Preston, 12, of Route 79 died of his injuries late Thursday afternoon at Jersey Shore University Medical Center in Neptune, authorities said. Kevin Clawson, 13, of Koenig Lane was pronounced dead Wednesday night at Centra-State Medical Center in Freehold Township shortly after the 6 p.m. accident, police said.

No charges are expected to be filed in a case that has underscored the twin dangers of skateboarding in the street and wearing dark clothing on the road at night, police said.

"The preliminary investigation supports a finding that this collision was accidental," Monmouth County Prosecutor Luis A. Valentin said. "There was no evidence of alcohol involvement or speeding, but of course we are continuing our investigation."

The boys had been skateboarding on Bar Harbor Road between Sabina Terrace and Burki Place and were in the road when they were hit, said police Lt. Dean Smith, who commands the township's traffic unit. Police described the street as well-lit with both curbing and sidewalks.

Police said the driver of the minivan, Frederick C. Eckhardt, 84, of Edgewood Drive, Freehold, was shaken up but uninjured. There was no indication that he failed to control his vehicle or that his actions contributed to the crash, investigators said after an accident reconstruction team's work at the scene.

Driver wasn't speeding

"Speed was not a factor here," Smith said. "He was doing the posted 35 mph speed limit, if that. The problem is that the kids were skateboarding in the street and they were wearing dark clothing. He just didn't see them, and under the circumstances that's understandable."

It is also possible that only one of the boys was wearing a helmet, Smith said.

"We recovered a helmet at the scene. At this point we don't know if it was being worn by either of the boys," Smith said.

Bar Harbor Road, a residential street, is not an area where police have received complaints about skateboarders in the street, police Capt. James Lasky said.

Smith said studies by the state Division of Highway Traffic Safety have shown that black and blue clothing are the hardest to see at night. A chart prepared by the department said a night-time driver would first see a pedestrian in dark-colored clothing at about 55 feet away. That might give a driver as little as one second of reaction time, studies show.

Skateboarding is allowed on streets as long as the skaters keep to the right, wear helmets and follow the rules of the road, Lasky said.

"The problems come when they can't be seen or dart into the middle of the roadway," Lasky said. "We don't know if that happened here, but we have had complaints about that from other people at different times. A lot of times kids don't realize how hard they can be to see at night and how long a car needs to stop."

School comes together

The boys were seventh-graders at Dwight D. Eisenhower School, said William Setaro, Freehold Township schools superintendent.

He said each teacher was given a short prepared statement to read to their homerooms Thursday, and grief counselors were present, focusing on students' and staff's "feelings, fears and concerns."

"Our teachers will be trying to run a normal day," he said, noting that "what I think is amazing is that the entire school community is coming together."

Although police emphasized that speed was not an issue in the accident, those who live along Bar Harbor Road said, generally, the 35 mph speed limit on that stretch is too fast for the internal street in the Juniper Farms development.

The speed limit has been an issue during the three decades that Sharon Kurczeski, 64, and her husband, Charles, 68, have lived on the road.

"We have tried everything to get this reduced, while our kids were growing up, to no avail," Sharon Kurczeski said.

Richard and Kathryn Lindquist, who live next-door to the Kurczeskis and assisted at the accident scene, agreed the accident did not seem to be speed-related. But Richard Lindquist, 61, said traffic speed has been an issue during the 20 years they have lived there.

With the accident, "maybe this will make some needed changes," Kathryn Lindquist said.

Staff writers Joseph Sapia and Kim Predham contributed to this story.