Bumper sticker seen on a vehicle in Westfield last week (Photo by Christine Charnosky).
WESTFIELD – A bereaved mother, trying to make sense of another recent family tragedy, wants to pay tribute to her son and remind everyone to watch out for motorcycles.
Kenneth J. Dejordy, 22, was killed on February 20 after a truck collided with his motorcycle on Route 20 in Huntington.
Tanya Cyr Wheeler expressed how infuriated she is by Facebook posts left on her son’s friends’ pages saying Dejordy was speeding and caused the crash.
Massachusetts State Police and troopers assigned to the State Police Detective Unit attached to the Hampshire County District Attorney’s Office have been investigating the crash, but the DA’s office has not yet released a cause for the deadly collision.
According to Wheeler, charges may be filed against the driver who struck her son.
Wheeler said her son had been riding dirt bikes since he was four years old and was an accomplished motorcyclist.
“People need to check twice,” she said, “It doesn’t matter what the season.”
She wants her son to be remembered as a “kind, compassionate, well-rounded young man.”
He started volunteering at Unified Sports in Westfield when he was 11 years old, he volunteered at a soup kitchen, shoveled neighbors out after snowstorms and provided electrical work for members of their church, according to Wheeler.
Dejordy graduated in 2011 with high honors from the electrical wiring program at Westfield Vocational High School, and at the time of his death was working as an electrician for Elm Electric.
He was a licensed electrician in Massachusetts and Connecticut, according to Wheeler.
“At the age of 22 he was getting ready to buy his first house!” she said, “That is the kind of human being this world has lost.”
“Ken worked so hard his whole life. He was building a future to take care of his brother,” Garrett Dejordy, 19, who has Down Syndrome.
“When Garrett was a baby, Ken absolutely fell in love with his little brother” she said. “They had a beautiful relationship.”
Dejordy also left behind a 22-year-old sister, Katelyn Wheeler, and their mother referred to her children as “the three amigos.”
“He had so much to give,” she said, “He was in a really good place in his life.”
Dejordy’s funeral service on Friday was attended by hundreds of people.
“We had lines for four hours, and we were not able to speak to everyone as the line was wrapped around the building after the four-hour wake,” Heeler said.
Dejordy died three years and six months to the day after his grandparents died in a tragic accident that was highly-publicized.
Wheeler’s parents, Patricia Cyr, 61, and her husband, Daniel Cyr, 64, died August 20, 2012 while saving their dog who had jumped from their boat into Hampton Ponds.
A Facebook post on Dejordy’s page says: “Kenny, you were such a great guy with a huge heart. Rest in peace in the loving arms of your Grandma and Grandpa.”
Since Dejordy was planning to take care of Garrett, a memorial fund as been set up in Ken’s name. Donations may be directed to the Kenneth Dejordy Memorial Fund, attention: Kelly Silvestri, United Bank, 168 Southampton Road, Westfield, MA for the benefit of the future care of his brother, Garrett.
“Ken lived his 22 years well beyond what many people live in an entire life,” Wheeler said, “It was an honor to be his mother.”
Staff Writer Christine Charnosky can be reached at [email protected]
