Jessica...why weren't you in school?

Jimene Wilson is my sister...

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
AUSTINTOWN — It was as if they instinctively knew that being together would help them form a stronger brace under the weight of their grief.

Teenagers from Fitch High School gathered at a tree on Idlewood Road on Wednesday where a good friend was taken from them Tuesday by a car accident.

There, they remembered John Coudriet, 16, of 162 Idlewood, as a fixture in their life that they are going to miss.

"I've known him since sixth grade," said Jeremy Bennett, a junior at Fitch. "He rode my bus and sat at my lunch table."

"I've known him and his sister all my life," said Heather Opatken, a ninth-grader.

"He was my first friend in Ohio," said ninth-grader Pat Leach, who moved here in 2002.

What happened
Flowers and candles ringed the base of the tree as signs of their affection for Coudriet. He died after a car he was riding in left Idlewood and hit the tree. The driver, Tom Spicker, 16, apparently swerved to avoid a truck.

Messages were scrawled in black magic marker on rocks left under the tree and on the tree itself, where bark had been scraped away — all tributes to Coudriet.

"He was a friendly guy. Everybody loved him," said Ronald Howell, a 10th-grader. An easygoing person, "he wasn't trying to start drama," Howell said.

"He'd say 'hi' to you every morning," said Chelsey Lewis, a junior. That was whether he knew you or not, others pointed out.

Police are investigating the accident, which happened at 12:58 p.m. Spicker was treated at St. Elizabeth Health Center in Youngstown. Coudriet died at the hospital, and another passenger, Jessica Adams, 14, of Aldrich Drive, was in critical condition there Wednesday. Jessica's grandmother, Jimene Wilson of Canfield, said Jessica was stable and has been talking, but is badly injured.

She said she was grateful for the support of Jessica's friends, who visited her at the hospital. "There were so many kids up there today. It was wonderful."

Wilson said Jessica has talked about the accident. Shortly before it happened, she had put her seat belt on.

"She said there was a truck coming, and they swerved," Wilson said. "We told her today that her friend was gone. She just kept saying, 'Oh, my God.'"

Dealing with their grief
The reality of their loss is still sinking in for Coudriet's friends.

Heather said she couldn't cry Tuesday. "But today, when I came here [to the memorial at the tree], I really broke down," she said.

Jamie Rem of Greenford, who was Coudriet's girlfriend of two months, remembered him as "really sweet." She came to the tree with her mother, Jody, who said she was planning to take Jamie to grief counseling that Fitch High made available Wednesday.

Doug Heuer, Austintown schools superintendent, said counselors are on call until Monday for any pupil who needs immediate attention because of the loss. He said the district extended the counseling because teenagers can repress their grief, needing help a day or days later instead.

Events planned
Jody Rem said there will be a memorial picnic for the community Saturday near Spider's Tattoo and Piercing, 4215 Mahoning Ave. The picnic begins at 5 p.m.

It's mainly for the kids, she said, with hot dogs, an open microphone for anyone who wants to talk about Coudriet, and a DJ. Donations will be accepted there for medical expenses for the family of Jessica Adams and for funeral expenses for the Coudriet family.

There will be a spaghetti dinner at the high school from noon until 4 p.m. Oct. 8 in the cafeteria. The dinner is a fundraiser for the families. There is also an account set up at First National Bank. Rem said people can dedicate their checks to the J.P.C. and Jessica Adams Fund.

Another memorial has to do with a special tradition that's being carried on by 11th-grader Steven Chester, who's better known as Tweak.

"Ever since I met him, we designed Happy Pants," said Tweak. "We decided to have people sign our pants, and that made us happy. I decided to make one last pair."

"I'll be having people sign these until Friday," he said, pointing to the jeans he had on, which were already covered with black magic-marker signatures. "If you don't get a chance to sign them, go to Spider's."

They'll hang on the wall there, he said, where Coudriet was a tattoo artist apprentice.

Tweak said, however, that there's nothing happy about that last pair of pants.