Child killed in Boy Scout, Tennessee Guard water crash remembered as 'such a bright kid'
The 10-year-old boy killed Tuesday in a personal watercraft crash on Old Hickory Lake in Wilson County was a "popular" student in northwest Tennessee's Obion County, officials said this week.
Jack Gear was about to enter fifth grade at Union City Middle School. He had previously attended Union City Elementary, Union City Schools district spokesperson Mike Hutchens said.
Jack was an avid reader who “always had a book in his hand,” and loved video games, Hutchens said. The boy was also described by Hutchens as “popular with classmates,” and someone who “respected his teachers.”
Jack has two siblings who are also enrolled in Union City Schools, the district confirmed.
“He was such a bright kid who’ll be dearly missed,” Union City Elementary School Principal Allison Palmer said in a statement from the district.
The crash responsible for Jack's death involved two personal watercraft vessels on Old Hickory Lake near Boxwell Reservation Camp, used by the Boy Scouts of America, according to the Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
The water vessels were owned by Boxwell and were being operated by staff, according to the TWRA. A juvenile passenger was aboard each vessel.
Jack was the passenger of a 19-year-old woman and both were seriously injured in the crash, according to the TWRA.
The cause of the crash was still unknown Friday.
Jack was participating in the Tennessee National Guard’s annual Youth Development Week at the time of his death, according to a joint statement from the National Guard and Middle Tennessee Council, Boy Scouts of America.
The district "will provide whatever emotional support is needed to the family and his classmates,” Union City Director of Schools Wes Kennedy said in a statement.
Funeral services for the boy are planned for Friday at 7 p.m. in the chapel of Edmaiston-Mosley Funeral Home in Union City. Visitation is planned from 5 p.m. until the hour of service.
Reach Andy Humbles at ahumbles@tennessean.com or 615-726-5939 and on X, formerly known as Twitter @ AndyHumbles.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Tennessee 10-year-old killed in Boy Scout water crash remembered
