Alberto Perez

From the News Times

 Miguel Chanchavac, grandfather of Alberto Perez, who was killed while
riding his bike Sunday night, holds a Father’s Day card made by his
grandson.
Photo taken Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Photo: John Pirro

Alberto Perez loved chocolate ice cream and drawing.

Although he just finished kindergarten, he could already identify
many of the nations of the world and match them to their flags.

But what his family will remember most about the 7-year-old boy who
was killed in a traffic accident Sunday night is his faith in God, a
faith they said will help sustain them until they are all
together again.

"I was supposed to guide him, but he was guiding me," his mother, Noemi Perez, said Tuesday. "We are a religious family. I know right now he is with our good Lord, and one day I'll see him again."

Alberto died when he was hit by a minivan while riding his bicycle at
Montgomery and West streets shortly after 9:22 p.m. Sunday. His mother
was walking with her younger son, Harrison, only a short distance away,
according to police.

From the News Times: 

Clay Pierce, owner of the property at the corner of West and Montgomery
streets in Danbury, installs a ghost bike memorial in honor of
7-year-old Alberto Perez on Wednesday, August 1, 2012. Perez died after
he was struck by a minivan while riding his bike near the intersection
on June 19, 2011.
Photo: Jason Rearick

DANBURY -- Clay Pierce was devastated when he showed up to work on
the morning of June 20, 2011 and learned that a young boy had been
killed by a minivan while riding a bicycle past Pierce's property at
Montgomery and West streets the night before.

"I was destroyed," the 51-year-old businessman said. "I couldn't not think of him, because I have a 2-1/2 year-old myself."

So Pierce understood when, in the days that followed, family, friends, and others touched by the death of 7-year-old Alberto Perez created a makeshift memorial against the wrought-iron fence close to the spot where Perez died.

But as time passed and memories faded, the elements took a toll on
the flowers, cards, stuffed animals and other mementoes placed there by
well-wishers.

Eventually, Pierce said, it turned into an eyesore, blighting not
only the memory of the boy, but also detracting from his efforts to
transform the rambling, brick building and former auto body shop into an
attractive, mixed-use commercial complex.

For months after clearing it away, Pierce searched for a more
permanent way to memorialize Alberto and remind passers-by about his
tragic death.

Initially, he welded a 2-foot tall, wrought iron cross that bolted to the fence where the improvised memorial had been.

But something more was needed, he felt.

That's when his architect, Maura Newell Juan, asked Pierce if he'd ever heard of a "Ghost Bike."

First erected in St. Louis in 2003, ghost bikes, which are painted
white and attached to a street sign or similar structure at the scene of
a fatal accident, serve as reminders of the tragedy and support a
cyclist's right to safety.

There are about 500 such memorials around the world, according to the website Ghostbikes.org.

"My husband and I are both avid cyclists, and we have a lot of
friends in New York City, so you see ghost bikes all over the city,"
Juan said. "It's so moving when you see them. It's a way to memorialize
cyclists who were killed, and it reminds people to look out for them."

While most ghost bike memorials are old, scrap bikes that have been
painted, Pierce said he wanted something that wouldn't deteriorate with
time or be a target for vandals or thieves.

So he had a friend, Dennis Pierce, who is not a relation, create a small bicycle sculpture out of wrought iron, and weld it to the cross.

"A little bike, for a little boy who never had a chance," Clay Pierce said.

Alberto was bicycling west along West Street when he was hit by the
minivan, also westbound, that made a right turn onto Montgomery Street,
police said. He had been riding a short distance ahead of his mother,
Noemi, and his younger brother, who were walking toward their home on
Harmony Street.

Information on whether the woman who was driving the van had been charged wasn't available from the police Wednesday.

Alberto's grandfather, Miguel Chanchavac, who gave his grandson the bike he was riding when he was killed, teared up Wednesday when he was told about the memorial.

"I just can't erase it from my mind," he said, and Alberto's mother "still cries all the time."

But Chanchavac was grateful that others also haven't forgotten.

"Thank you very much," he said.