KINGWOOD — Tears and memories were shared Tuesday as Preston High dedicated a memorial to the late Brayden Bishoff.
Bishoff, 15, died Feb. 14 from injuries he received in an accident Feb. 6. He and three other students were in a car that hydroplaned on W.Va. 26 near the intersection with Furfin Road, then hit a tree.
Bishoff, a freshman, was a member of the Lenox Loyal Workers 4-H Club, the Preston High FFA and the Preston County Livestock Association.
“Anyone who knew Brayden experienced his ornery and contagious sense of humor,” fellow FFA and 4-H member Hunter Thomas said during the ceremony.
“He tried to keep everyone laughing while also being there for his friends. He was selfless, huge- hearted and a natural comedian,” Thomas said. “From his practical jokes to his imitation of voices, he could turn anger and sadness into a smile with little effort.”
The Preston County FFA had two of the club’s signature blue corduroy jackets embroidered with Bishoff’s name. They were framed with barn wood from the barn that formerly stood on school property, where Bishoff’s father worked when he was an FFA student.
One jacket was given to Bishoff’s family in honor of him. The other was hung in the CTE wing of Preston High “to stand as a testament to the kind of person Brayden was and honor him for many years to come,” Thomas said.
An outpouring of community support was directed toward the “Bruceton Boys,” as the students came to be known after the accident.
It also led to calls from Prestonians for better road maintenance, as some people said failure to properly ditch the road added to the accumulation of water in the road on which the car hydroplaned.
Bishoff’s father, Duane Bishoff, fought tears as he thanked everyone at the brief ceremony.
“On behalf of our family, we’d like to thank you all for your support over the last few months and this horrible time,” Duane Bishoff said.
“We try to make it as best as we can to try and support the community the way Brayden would want it. We can’t say enough about the way that you guys have supported us. It’s just unbelievable how this county and region and state and nation really — we had people from as far west as California buying shirts and stuff to support us — so thank you all.”
Money raised by the various fundraisers was used to help the families of the four boys with medical and other expenses arising from the accident.
The jacket hangs in the main hallway in the Preston High CTE section. Bishoff was a student in Electricity 1 and Introduction to Agriculture in the CTE program.
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