"More special than we ever could know;" family, community remember 9-year-old killed while biking

ELYRIA — A week after 9-year-old Bryant "Tide" Bartlett was struck by a car and killed while biking to Hilltop Park, his family, friends and community members gathered in the park for a tearful celebration of his life on Saturday. Bartlett and his friend Aiden Helland, 10, were struck by a car as it attempted to pass them on Burns Road on Oct. 12. Helland was injured and hospitalized, but has since been released. More than three dozen people joined Bartlett's family in Hilltop Park to share memories of the boy who went by Tide and to release biodegradable balloons in his honor. Paige Lundberg, Bartlett's aunt, spoke to the crowd, thanking them for their support of her family and telling them about her loving, outdoorsy nephew. "He definitely wasn't a lazy kid, he worked hard and he played harder," Lundberg said. "He was the kid who we thought would grow up to run a concrete crew one day, because not only was he tough as nails, but he was also a hard worker and would do anything you were doing." Bartlett loved to play and work outside, Lundberg said, and he had been going out every day after school with a small shovel to help prepare his home for a new driveway. The shovel now leans against a memorial dedicated to him, near to where he was killed on Burns Road. "As much as he was tough, he had a huge heart to match it," Lundberg said. "He would constantly feed the neighborhood kids food because he wanted to make sure they had eaten … he wanted to make sure that everybody had what he had, because he didn't want to see anybody go without." Sarah Jobst, Bartlett's mother, and her children moved to the area from Georgia about six months ago and had been living with Lundberg before recently finding a home in Elyria. Bartlett turned 9-years-old on Sept. 3, only about a month before his death. "I know (Bartlett) made his mama proud, even in all this tragedy," Lundberg said. "She tells me that she is able to stay strong because of how Tide was and how loved he was and how he made such an impact on so many people's lives in such a short amount of time. And I believe it was because he was more special than we ever could know." Lundberg said that she hoped Bartlett's death would serve as a "wake-up call" to the city, and spur action in making Burns Road safer for bikers and pedestrians. Burns Road does not have sidewalks or bike lanes. "Things like this could have been avoided if extra precautions were taken when the park was put in place," she said. "... I hope that something will finally be done and we can avoid this in the future. Because we want something to come out of this horrible situation — like sidewalks or maybe even speed tables — so children can have a safe trip to the park. And so no other family has to go through what we just went through on Burns Road." Elyria Mayor Kevin Brubaker was present at the celebration of life and said he met with Bartlett's family on Friday night as well. After the memorial, Brubaker told The Chronicle-Telegram that the city would explore ways to make the area around Hilltop Park safer for pedestrians. "As a city we are going to look at what we can do to make this area safer," he said. "There is signage that talks about the dip (in the road) there. I've already noticed that. I like the idea of these speed tables, obviously we can't do that now because it's about to be winter. Sidewalks we'll look into." Brubaker said that the Elyria Police Department's Traffic Unit had been dedicating time to stop speeding on Burns Road since the crash, and that monitoring will continue. "Obviously it was a tragic accident and from the city standpoint, our sympathies and condolences go out to the family and I shared that with Sarah last night and Paige this afternoon," Brubaker said. "It's tragic, you have a 9-year-old who loses his life when he was just out riding his bike. We need to address some things." The name of 20-year-old driver who was involved in the crash has not been released. Police said the investigation is still ongoing, and no charges have been filed. Lundberg thanked the community for their support both on Saturday in the week before. The family has a GoFundMe page set up to support Bartlett's mother and his father, Stephen Bartlett. "In all this, Tide is continuing to bring people together to share their love, kindness and support," Lundberg said. "That's what he always wanted, was for everyone to love one another and to be happy. He was more than a blessing in our life, more than we could have ever imagined. He taught us all unconditional love and patience, and through this, I will be forever grateful." Contact Owen MacMillan at (440) 329-7123 or omacmillan@chroniclet.com.