Edition:
November 14, 2008
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Reporter
A Canyon Lake family of three lost their lives in a tragic accident that occurred last Sunday morning on Highway 40 near Ludlow, California. Jose Ramirez, 66, Wendy Ramirez, 51, and Robert Ramirez, 15, were involved in a multiple vehicle accident involving as many as 13 vehicles. Neighbors of the family say they were traveling to Laughlin for the Western Regional Clown Association Convention. A Fullerton woman also lost her life in the accident, and four others were transported to hospitals.
The California Highway Patrol’s major accident investigation team conducted a 10-hour investigation before re-opening the highway. Initial reports from the CHP indicated that the accident occurred at about 8:30 a.m. and included multiple tractor-trailers, pick-up trucks with trailers, SUVs, a Porsche and the Ramirez family’s vehicle.
Their 2006 Toyota Avalon was crushed under a semi truck trailer after being rear-ended by another semi, said Supervising Deputy Coroner Tony Campisi. Weather was a likely factor in the accident as a wind advisory was in effect at the time and blowing sand could have affected visibility, according to the CHP.
Students at Temescal Canyon High School have been mourning the loss of Robert, a fellow student and the lead tech for the drama department. Principal Errol Garnett made the grim announcement to students Monday morning and invited those needing support to go to the theater where grief counselors were available. He also indicated he planned to send out a notice to parents.
Robert was the tech doing lighting and sound for 90 percent of the performances in the theater, according to Garnett. “He loved the stage and loved to support the theater. Robert was only 15 but had the maturity of a 25 year old,” he said on Monday. School records indicated that both his parents were retired.
Prior to leaving for Laughlin, Robert had worked the last two weekends on the TCHS production of “The Uninvited.” Tara Miller, who heads up the drama department, was devastated, as were students on campus, according to resident Debbie Miller, Tara’s mother. Tara worked closely with Robert, who was her stage manager, and Debbie worked with his mother, Wendy Ramirez, handling tickets.
Debbie visited the campus on Monday and says the mood was very somber as students dealt with the news and sobbed with grief. One way in which students dealt with the popular sophomore’s death was to honor him by wearing hot pink gaffing tape and putting a hot pink “R” on their clothing. According to Debbie the hot pink tape was something that was special to Robert who “guarded” it because it was very expensive and he had special ordered it for productions. She says wearing the tape helped them to deal with it and they seemed to get the significance of “stealing” and “wasting” his tape.
Robert’s friends began leaving tributes Monday afternoon on his social networking MySpace page, while John Mayer’s song, “Waiting on the World,” played in the background. Debbie says Robert had always wanted TCHS to do the high school version of the play “Rent” and fittingly one of the tributes to him included a quote from the play, which says, “You always said you were lucky to have us, but it was us, baby, who were the lucky ones.”
In addition to working as a tech, Robert was also a clown and had attended teacher Sharon Knight’s clown class at Tuscany Hills Elementary. He attended Canyon Lake Middle School prior to high school.
According to reports by DesertDispatch.com, word of the tragedy spread quickly among the 200 clown convention attendees, many of whom have known each other for years, said convention Junior Teams Director Gerrie Farrer, who has worked with young clowns at the annual event for 15 years. Convention leaders got word Monday that the Ramirez family had been involved in the crash, Farrer said. They named Tuesday “Smiley Day,” a reference to Robert’s stage name, and many people sported smiley face buttons in memory of the Ramirez family.
The family made the trip to Laughlin together every year for the past 10 years, Farrer said. Robert loved to make balloon animals, while Wendy was a face-painting enthusiast, said Kathryn Butte, assistant junior teams director. The mother and son would clown at birthday parties together.
“She got into clowning because Robert wanted to do it,” Butte said. “She brought him the first year, and she wasn’t a clown the first year. The second year, she was clowning.”
Jose didn’t dress in costume and get up on stage, but he came to the convention every year, according to Farrer and Butte. “It was fun to see the family, because they were very supportive of each other . . . It was a family deal – mother, dad and son,” said Farrer.
Neighbors on Longhorn Dr. are grieving the loss of the Ramirez family. Their neighbor and friend, Chuck Smith, says that the family Chihuahua, “Rascal,” also died in the accident. He also says, “The one bright spot, if there is one, is that they were doing something together that they loved to do.” Many students and community members had spent time recently with the family and have commented on what a nice family they were. The names of survivors and funeral arrangements are not known at this time.
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