'Senselessly stolen': Teen killed in bus stop crash remembered in memorial
Kelly Welling started the hardest eulogy ever Saturday morning with an introduction.
“I was given the honor of being Wesley’s mom,” she said in a Westlake Village church filled with flowers and her son's photos. Stopping for a sip of water when her voice faltered, the Thousand Oaks woman said she never envisioned outliving her child and speaking at his memorial.
“I was not supposed to be around,” she said.
Wesley Welling, a 15-year-old who found a way to engage with classmates, adults, siblings and pretty much everyone else, died on April 18 at a bus stop near Westlake High School in Thousand Oaks. He was struck by a car that also injured three other students. The driver faces charges including murder. Investigators allege the collision was intentional and came after a series of crimes earlier in the day including a stabbing at a Simi Valley Walmart and a domestic dispute in Camarillo. The man has not yet entered pleas.
The tragedy shook the Conejo Valley to its core. On Saturday, about 200 people gathered in a celebration of life at Calvary Community Church to remember Wesley.
He was a special kid — an old soul with a quick wit who knew how to be himself and didn’t really worry what other people thought about it, Kelly Welling said. At the same time, he owned innate charm and empathy, helping him connect with everyone in his path.
His eyes were blue with a hint of green, just like his grandfather's. He was tall and thin but owned an appetite that seemed infinite.
"He could put away a whole tri-tip in one sitting," his mother said in a phone interview the day before the memorial. He was accepting of everyone. He loved to give hugs. He raced ahead of strangers so he could open doors for them.
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"I just wish more people were like him," Kelly Welling said. "He had a light about him that I can’t even describe."
A freshman at Westlake High, he had started to think about the future and broached the possibility of one day joining the Army. They talked too about God, reincarnation and many other things, Kelly Welling said.
“He was at the age when he had become my friend,” she said.
He was close to his big sister, Hannah, and his 9-year-brother Cody, who spoke at the service Saturday.
“Wesley was a great brother,” he said, standing at the podium with a family friend. “When I found out what happened I was heartbroken.”
At his father’s house, also in Thousand Oaks, the family cat, Molly, always slept on Hannah's bed. After the crash, Molly started sleeping on Wesley’s bed. She has stayed there.
Craig Welling, Wesley's father, said they would use bow and arrows and BB guns for target practice outside. The boy owned an avid imagination and carefully positioned Nerf guns throughout the house — in readiness for a zombie apocalypse. They are still there.
“I haven’t touched any of his stuff,” Craig Welling said in a phone call Friday night. “It seems like everywhere Wesley was there is now this emptiness.”
Dad and son were both performers who liked cosplay, with Craig Welling dressing up as Star Trek characters. Wesley often portrayed Freddy Krueger or Jason Voorhees, both characters in horror movies.
Wesley's father had just taught him to play poker and he was enamored by the art of bluffing. Like everything else, Wesley threw himself into the new passion.
“In life, he would go all in,” Craig Welling said, thinking about his son’s death. “This time, he didn’t realize the deck was stacked against him.”
Christie Hodge, Wesley’s aunt, talked about the tragedy too at the celebration of life.
“Why did your life have to be so senselessly stolen?” she said. “We’ll ask that every single day.”
Isaak Gutierrez and Harley Whitlock, two of Wesley’s best friends, spoke at the service. The three boys were so close they were like brothers. Harley remembered how Wesley tried unsuccessfully to teach him poker and then told him he did well. That was Wesley’s way. He always offered support.
Now that he’s gone, Harley thinks about those times often. At the podium Saturday, he looked at a church filled with people immersed in memories, grief and pain.
“It’s hard, I know,” he said, “but we have to keep going.”
Tom Kisken covers health care and other news for the Ventura County Star. Reach him at tom.kisken@vcstar.com or 805-437-0255.
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This article originally appeared on Ventura County Star: 15-year-old Wesley Welling's life honored in Westlake memorial
