Two lighted basketball courts will be built, dedicated to 14-year-old who was gunned down

June 6, 2001

Three months have passed since Santana High School freshman Bryan Zuckor lost his life and his family lost their way.

The kid who loved basketball, did stunts on his bicycle and talked about being a veterinarian or a doctor just wasn't there anymore.

He was gunned down by a classmate March 5. Another student died that day and 13 people were injured.

Bryan's mother, sister and brother were devastated. Members of his church youth group were stunned.

Today, those young friends are building a permanent memorial to their 14-year-old buddy at Lakeside Community Prebyterian Church.

They spent the day Saturday pulling weeds from the asphalt lot behind the church. Later this week, a construction crew will put down a new surface.

And when it's all done, there will be two lighted basketball courts for kids to play on and a plaque dedicated to Bryan.

"He was the one member of the youth group that didn't talk about you behind your back," said 15-year-old Susanna Wheeler, who is leading the memorial effort. "He made you feel very good about yourself. We wanted to do something very good for him."

This was Bryan's legacy, said his grandfather, Dr. Rufino Macagba.

"We have discovered after Bryan's death that he had influenced so many people in so many possible ways, especially through the youth group in the church," said Macagba.

The loss for the family, he said, was indescribable.

"Bryan was from a single-mother household. He was a vital part of the family. He was the man of the house," Macagba said. "And so with his absence now, it is more than just the absence of one person. It is the absence of an essential person."

To Macagba and his wife, "Bryan was like a son."

"Our daughter and her three children, they were in our house practically every day," he said.

While counseling has helped the Zuckor family with daily routines, said Macagba, "it is what is happening inside the mind that is difficult to help, especially with people who have lost someone very dear to them."

That is why the basketball court memorial means so much to Bryan's relatives.

"Anything that helps to elevate the mind to a purpose would help," Macagba said. "So the basketball court would therefore be a big comfort to all of us. He did not die in vain. Things will be happening that will somehow help others in some way."

Bryan was a four-year member of the youth group, Saints United for Radical Faith (SURF), said the Rev. Bob Mentze.

It was there that Bryan became the strong, helpful, respectful youth he turned out to be, he said.

"Bryan was awesome," said Dan Scott, a neighbor and summer basketball coach.

Scott is a superintendent at Fieldstone Communities and was instrumental in getting the Fieldstone Foundation to help fund the memorial and donate equipment.

"I met him through coaching, but he knew my son," Scott said. "He was over here all the time ... . He and my son would go hiking. He just became part of the extended family. He'd shoot hoops and stop by."

Neighbors, family friends and church members will be donating materials and volunteering time to get the courts built.

Mentze said the effort is expected to cost about $15,000 to $20,000. About $2,000 has been raised so far. Anyone interested in donating can call Mentze at (619) 443-1021.