Lacy family removes memorial

The white cross and wooden cut-out of Josh Lacy's football jersey are all that's left of a memorial for the 15-year-old Del Norte High School student who was struck and killed by a hit-and-run driver in January. (The Daily Triplicate/Bryant Anderson).

By Nicholas Grube

Triplicate staff writer

Though many of his family and friends' signatures are faded, a wooden cut-out of a blue football jersey – number 44 – will continue to remind drivers along U.S. Hwy. 101 of the tragic end to 15-year-old Josh Lacy's life.

On Friday, Josh's parents wrestled with the emotions of losing their son while they were forced to remove a roadside memorial that was dedicated to remembering Josh, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver four and a half months ago.

"It was the one way that we knew people were seeing it everyday," Jeremy Lacy, Josh's step-father, said of the memorial. "The person who hit Josh was seeing it everyday."

He said the memorial served as a reminder to everyone in the area, including the driver of the vehicle that hit Josh. He said he hoped it would bring someone, anyone, forward to help give closure to his family and to the community.

"I think it's something that needs to stay fresh in the mind of the community," Jeremy said. "It needs to stay fresh in everybody's mind."

But Caltrans, the state agency responsible for highway maintenance, told the Lacys they needed to take down the memorial because it creates a hazardous situation and can be a distraction for drivers.

"They're just upholding the laws," Jeremy said. "The same laws we want them to uphold when they catch the person who hit my kid, my son, and left him in the roadway."

To comply with Caltrans, the Lacys spent Friday afternoon throwing away flowers, stuffed animals and handwritten messages people left for Josh after his passing. They left the football jersey and a tall, white cross – which will stand 60 feet from the center line of Hwy. 101 – to oblige Caltrans' guidelines.

"We understand the laws. We can't help what people bring out here," Josh's mother, Carlene Lacy, said through tired, glossy eyes and tear-stained cheeks. "There's been so much support, and we are overwhelmed by that...I just want him back."

She said she can still remember when Josh was a young boy, how he asked what the tiny crosses were doing next to the roadways.

"When he was little, I remember he would ask what they were for," Carlene said, and how she would explain to Josh that they were meant to remember someone who died in that spot. "You say it always just happens to somebody else," she said while gazing toward the garbage bags filled with peoples' thoughts and memories of her son. "It doesn't happen to you."

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Anyone with information about this crime and the person involved is encouraged to call California Highway Patrol at 707-464-3117.