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(Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell) The Remembering Families, school and community begin healing process after highway deaths of Talent teens By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune In skate shops, school hallways and homes across the Rogue Valley, family and friends grappled with grief for two teens who died Tuesday in a rollover wreck on a rural highway in Eastern Oregon. From construction paper notes at the Talent skatepark to graffiti along South Pacific Highway, memorials sprouted, even as planning for formal memorials got started for Corey Michael Keller, 17, and Zachary Roberts, 18, both of Talent. Keller and Roberts died at the scene of a crash on U.S. Highway 395 at 12:15 a.m. Tuesday about 40 miles south of the junction with Highway 20, Oregon State Police said. The crash is still under investigation. Friends they were traveling with — Kameron Glover Pendleton, 18, of Medford, and Armando Manuel "Mannie" Serrano, 18, of Talent — were released Wednesday from the Harney District Hospital in Burns, hospital officials said. Planning is just starting for services, which likely will be over the weekend, friends and family said. Advertisement Keller was an only child who volunteered early to take on responsibility at home, said his mom Sherie Keller, of Talent. "At 12, he wanted to manage money for me," she said. He also loved the outdoors, especially fishing, said his grandmother Janice Fritz, who flew Wednesday to Medford from Wyoming. He fished mountain streams when he visited her there and she remembers visiting him in Florida when he was only 5 or 6 years old. When she approached him on the beach to see what he was doing, he shushed her and said he was about to catch a crab. And sure enough, she said with a laugh, he did, with a rig made from an open safety pin on the end of his pole. Roberts was the only child of his parents, Gary and Uilani Roberts, of Talent. "He was a wonderful, giving, loving person," family friend Denise Bresg said. Both Roberts and Keller were avid skaters and snowboarders and regular customers at Jack's Board House in Phoenix, said owner Tom Allred. "Zach used to come in with his dad," Allred said. He was shy at first, but finally asked if Allred's shop would sponsor him, an accomplishment many young skaters strive for. Allred said when he wants to sponsor a teen, he looks for kids who are serious about the sport, a good representative for his business and a good role model for other kids — all qualities Roberts had. Allred had sponsored Roberts since he was 15. "They were both friendly, happy kids," he said. "It's been a couple of sad days here." At Phoenix High School where many students knew Keller and Roberts, teens organized a committee Wednesday to develop memorials for their peers, Principal Jani Hale said. Roberts graduated last year and Keller had attended before transferring to the alternative CrossRoads School in Medford. Friends are working on a proposal to build a bench out of old snowboards and skateboards that could be installed at the Talent Skate Park in memory of Keller and Roberts, she said. Students will take the proposal to the city of Talent. They are also considering a memory garden at the school with a tree, a bench and a rock where names of teens who die could be inscribed, Hale said. "It was a wonderful meeting," she said of the student group that organized to memorialize their friends. Family friends of Roberts also plan to establish a memorial fund at Umpqua Bank and may work with the school so money collected can go toward the students' memorial projects, Bresg said. Talent Police Chief Bob Rector cautioned teens against using graffiti to express their grief, and praised their posting of notes at the skate park and formal efforts through Phoenix High. "We're asking that if anyone wants to communicate emotion right now, they do it in a temporary way, not with spray paint," he said. "We respect their right to grieve, but we don't want damage to city property." Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485 or at [email protected] Would you like to respond to this story? If so Click Here to visit our forums. Advertisement Copyright © 1997-2007 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback online casinos news Home Security Systems Online Casino Reviews Trunks, Footlocker Fundraisers UK Homeowner Loans Casinos Canada Cord Blood Banking Discount Hotel Reservations Texas Electric Choice Compare Electric rates in Texas Windermere Van Vleet Men's Clothing Debt Help New Hampshire Primary